Heat pipe for vehicle energy-storage systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9995535-B2
Application number	US-201514866949-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2015
Priority date	Jun 30, 2015
Publication date	Jun 12, 2018
Grant date	Jun 12, 2018

Abstract

Provided are cooling subsystems for a vehicle energy-storage system comprising a heat pipe disposed between two battery modules, the heat pipe being thermally coupled to each of a plurality of cells of the two battery modules at an end of each cell. The heat pipe comprises an envelope and a working fluid, the heat pipe transferring heat from the plurality of cells. Optionally, the cooling subsystem further includes a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the heat pipe, the heat exchanger receiving heat from the heat pipe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cooling subsystem for a vehicle energy-storage system comprising:
a heat pipe disposed between two battery modules, the heat pipe being thermally coupled to each of a plurality of cells of the two battery modules at an end of each cell, the heat pipe comprising an envelope and a working fluid, the heat pipe transferring heat from the plurality of cells;
a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the heat pipe, the heat exchanger receiving heat from the heat pipe; and
a coolant system for circulating a coolant pumped into a battery tray such that a plurality of battery modules disposed in the battery tray are at approximately the same predetermined temperature, the heat exchanger being thermally coupled to the coolant system using a coolant input port and a coolant output port.

2. The cooling subsystem of claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one of: aluminum, copper, and an aluminum-copper alloy.

3. The cooling subsystem of claim 1 , wherein the coolant comprises at least one of: synthetic oil, water and ethylene glycol (WEG), poly-alpha-olefin oil, and liquid dielectric cooling based on phase change.

4. The cooling subsystem of claim 1 wherein, the envelope comprises at least one of: aluminum, copper, steel, stainless steel, and a high-performance alloy.

5. The cooling subsystem of claim 4 , wherein an exterior surface of the envelope comprises at least one of: aluminum oxide, diamond powder based materials, and boron nitride.

6. The cooling subsystem of claim 5 , wherein the working fluid comprises at least one of: ammonia, ethanol, methanol, water, refrigerant, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, hydrogen, helium, and alkali metal.

7. The cooling subsystem of claim 1 , wherein the envelope comprises aluminum, an exterior surface of the envelope comprises aluminum oxide, and the working fluid comprises ammonia.

8. The cooling subsystem of claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe comprises two sides that are substantially planar.

9. A cooling system for a vehicle energy-storage system comprising:
a heat pipe comprising a planar surface thermally coupled to a plurality of cells of a battery module of the vehicle energy-storage system, an envelope being configured to transfer heat from the plurality of cells; and
a heat exchanger coupled to the envelope and configured to transfer the heat from the envelope, the heat exchanger comprising a channel configured to direct a working fluid through the heat exchanger to transfer the heat from the heat exchanger,
wherein the heat exchanger is thermally coupled to a coolant system for circulating a coolant pumped into a battery tray such that a plurality of battery modules disposed in the battery tray are at approximately the same predetermined temperature, the heat exchanger being thermally coupled to the coolant system through a coolant input port and a coolant output port.

10. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the envelope has a width of about 2 to 4 mm.

11. The cooling system heat pipe of claim 10 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one of: aluminum, copper, and an aluminum-copper alloy.

12. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the coolant comprises at least one of: synthetic oil, water and ethylene glycol (WEG), poly-alpha-olefin oil, and liquid dielectric cooling based on phase change.

13. The cooling system of claim 9 wherein, the envelope comprises at least one of: aluminum, copper, steel, stainless steel, and a high-performance alloy.

14. The cooling system of claim 13 , wherein an exterior surface of the envelope comprises at least one of: aluminum oxide, diamond powder based materials, and boron nitride.

15. The cooling system of claim 14 , wherein the working fluid comprises at least one of: ammonia, ethanol, methanol, water, refrigerant, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, hydrogen, helium, and alkali metal.

16. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the envelope comprises aluminum, an exterior surface of the envelope comprises aluminum oxide, and the working fluid comprises ammonia.

17. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the planar surface of the heat pipe is coupled to the plurality of cells through end sections of the plurality of cells.

Assignees

• Faraday&Future Inc

Inventors

• Harris W Porter

Classifications

• H01M50/249

  specially adapted for aircraft or vehicles, e.g. cars or trains (constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles B60L50/64) · CPC title

• H01M50/227

  Organic material · CPC title

• H01M50/507

  comprising an arrangement of two or more busbars within a container structure, e.g. busbar modules · CPC title

• H01M50/213

  adapted for cells having curved cross-section, e.g. round or elliptic (H01M50/209, H01M50/216 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M2220/20

  Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title