Method for controlling a thermal storage heat pump system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9618242-B2
Application number	US-201313742735-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 16, 2013
Priority date	Jan 16, 2013
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A thermal storage heat pump system transfers heat to a passenger compartment of a vehicle from at least one of a thermal storage device and ambient air. Heat from the thermal storage device is absorbed by a first coolant flowing through it, and is transferred to a refrigerant via a first heat exchanger. The heat is then transferred from the refrigerant to a second coolant via a second heat exchanger, and then from the second coolant to air flowing into the passenger compartment via a heater core. Heat from ambient air is absorbed by the refrigerant via a third heat exchanger. The heat source is determined by at least one of the thermal storage device temperature, ambient air temperature, and ambient air humidity. At start-up of the vehicle, heat transfer to the refrigerant and to the second coolant is controlled based on low-side and high-side pressure measurements of the refrigerant.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A thermal storage heat pump system of a vehicle having a passenger compartment and a discrete internal combustion engine, the system comprising:
a first coolant circuit having a first coolant pump configured to circulate a first coolant through the first coolant circuit;
a second coolant circuit having a second coolant pump configured to circulate a second coolant through the second coolant circuit, wherein the second coolant circuit includes the internal combustion engine, and the second coolant pump is discrete and separate from the internal combustion engine;
a refrigeration circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant, the refrigeration circuit being in thermal communication with the first coolant circuit and the second coolant circuit via a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, respectively;
a thermal storage device located in the first coolant circuit, wherein the thermal storage device is configured to store thermal energy, and the thermal storage device is an energy storage system that includes at least one battery pack;
a heater located in the first coolant circuit, wherein the first heat exchanger is upstream of the thermal storage device such that the heater is configured to heat the first coolant before the first coolant reaches the thermal storage device;
a heater core located on the second coolant circuit, the heater core being configured to transfer heat from the second coolant to air flowing across the heater core to warm up the passenger compartment;
a compressor having an inlet and an outlet, the compressor being located on the refrigeration circuit and being configured to compress the refrigerant from a low-side pressure to a high-side pressure;
a third heat exchanger configured to transfer thermal energy from ambient air to the refrigerant;
a plurality of flow control valves in the refrigeration circuit, the flow control valves being configured to control the flow of refrigerant in the refrigeration circuit; and
at least one controller configured to control the operation of at least one of the first coolant pump, the second coolant pump, the compressor, and the plurality of flow control valves based on at least one parameter.

2. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 1 , wherein the heater is a resistive heater.

3. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 1 wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of ambient air temperature, ambient air humidity, temperature of the thermal storage device, low-side and high-side pressure of the refrigerant, and desired temperature of the passenger compartment, and the second coolant circuit further includes a bypass line and a bypass valve, the bypass line bypasses the internal combustion engine, the bypass valve is downstream of the second coolant pump and upstream of the internal combustion engine, the bypass valve is configured to selectively direct the second coolant to the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is in one of a range extending mode or a hybrid mode, and the bypass valve is configured to selectively direct the second coolant to the bypass line when the vehicle is in an electric vehicle (EV) drive mode such that the second coolant bypasses the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is in the EV drive mode.

4. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 3 wherein the thermal storage device comprises a first temperature sensor configured to measure the temperature of the thermal storage device to obtain a thermal storage device temperature measurement, and to transmit the thermal storage device temperature measurement to the at least one controller, the refrigeration circuit includes a first thermal expansion device configured to cool and expand the refrigerant to be distributed to the first heat exchanger, and the first thermal expansion device is located downstream of the second heat exchanger and upstream of the first heat exchanger.

5. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 4 further comprising a second temperature sensor configured to measure the ambient air temperature to obtain an ambient air temperature measurement, and to transmit the ambient air temperature measurement to the at least one controller, the refrigeration circuit includes a second thermal expansion device configured to cool and expand the refrigerant to be distributed to the third heat exchanger, the second thermal expansion device is located upstream of the third heat exchanger, and the first thermal expansion device and the second thermal expansion device are thermal expansion valves.

6. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 3 further comprising a humidity sensor to measure the ambient air humidity to obtain a humidity measurement, and to transmit the humidity measurement to the at least one controller, and the third heat exchanger is fluidly connected in parallel with respect to the second heat exchanger.

7. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 6 further comprising a low-side pressure sensor configured to measure a low-side pressure of the refrigerant at the inlet of the compressor to obtain a low-side pressure measurement, and to transmit the low-side pressure measurement to the at least one controller, and the refrigeration circuit includes a fourth heat exchanger, the fourth heat exchanger is fluidly connected in parallel with the compressor, the fourth heat exchanger is a refrigerant-to-ambient air heat exchanger and functions as a condenser, the plurality of flow control valves includes a first flow control valve fluidly connected in series with the fourth heat exchanger, the first flow control valve is fluidly connected in parallel with the compressor, and the first flow control valve is downstream of the fourth heat exchanger.

8. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 7 further comprising a high-side pressure sensor configured to measure a high-side pressure of the refrigerant at the outlet of the compressor to obtain a high-side pressure measurement, and to transmit the high-side pressure measurement to the at least one controller, wherein the compressor is located downstream of the first heat exchanger and upstream of the second heat exchanger such that the refrigerant flows through the first heat exchanger, then through the compressor, and then through the second heat exchanger.

9. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 8 further comprising an input module configured to receive and transmit to the at least one controller a desired passenger compartment temperature input, the refrigeration circuit includes a first thermal expansion device configured to cool and expand the refrigerant to be distributed to the second heat exchanger, the first thermal expansion device is upstream of the first heat exchanger and downstream of the second heat exchanger, the first thermal expansion device is fluidly connected in series with the first heat exchanger, the plurality of flow control valves includes a second flow control valve and a third flow control valve, the second flow control valve is downstream of the second heat exchanger and upstream of the first thermal expansion device, and the second flow control valve is fluidly connected in series with the first thermal expansion device.

10. The thermal storage heat pump system of claim 9 , wherein the refrigeration circuit includes a second thermal expansion device configured to cool and expand the refrigerant to be distributed to the third heat exchanger, the second thermal expansion device is fluidly connected in series with the third heat exchanger, the second thermal expansion device is upstream of the third heat exchanger, and the third flow control valve is fluidly connected in series with the second heat ex

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Lombardo Paul S
• Ziehr Lawrence P
• Lemon Brian P

Classifications

• F25B2700/2106

  of fresh outdoor air · CPC title

• B60H2001/00949

  comprising additional heating/cooling sources, e.g. second evaporator · CPC title

• B60H1/00899

  Controlling the flow of liquid in a heat pump system (controlling the properties of the refrigerant liquid, e.g. pressure or temperature, B60H1/3204) · CPC title

• F25B6/02

  arranged in parallel · CPC title

• F25B2500/26

  characterised by the startup of the refrigeration cycle · CPC title