Heat Exchanger For Vehicle Energy-Storage Systems

Abstract

Provided are cooling subsystems for a vehicle energy-storage system comprising a heat exchanger disposed between two battery modules. The heat exchanger can be thermally coupled to each of a plurality of cells of the battery modules at an end of each cell and fluidly coupled to a coolant system, the heat exchanger transferring heat from the plurality of cells.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle energy-storage system comprising:
 a plurality of modules, each module including:
 two half modules coupled together, each half module including:
 a plurality of cells, the cells being cylindrical rechargeable lithium-ion cells each having a first end and a second end, the first end distal from the second end, and having an anode terminal and a cathode terminal being disposed at the first end; and 
 an enclosure having the cells disposed therein, the enclosure including a power connector electrically coupled to the plurality of cells; 
 
 a main power connector electrically coupled to the power connectors of the two half modules; and 
 a heat exchanger disposed between the two half modules, the heat exchanger being thermally coupled to each of the plurality of cells of the two half modules at the second end, the heat exchanger being fluidly coupled to a coolant system, the heat exchanger transferring heat from the plurality of cells; 
   a tray having the plurality of modules disposed therein, the tray including:
 a positive bus bar; 
 a negative bus bar, the positive and negative bus bars being separately electrically coupled to the main power connector associated with each of the plurality of modules; and 
   the coolant system for circulating coolant being pumped into the tray such that each of the modules is at approximately the same predetermined temperature.   
     
     
         2 . The energy-storage system of  claim 1  wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one of: aluminum, copper, and an aluminum-copper alloy. 
     
     
         3 . The energy-storage system of  claim 2  wherein an exterior surface of the heat exchanger comprises at least one of: aluminum oxide, diamond powder based materials, and boron nitride. 
     
     
         4 . The energy-storage system of  claim 3  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. 
     
     
         5 . The energy-storage system of  claim 1  wherein the heat exchanger comprises aluminum, an exterior surface of the heat exchanger comprises aluminum oxide, and the coolant comprises WEG. 
     
     
         6 . The energy-storage system of  claim 1  wherein each half module further includes a current carrier electrically coupled to the cells, the cathode terminal of each of the cells being coupled to a respective positive contact of the current carrier, and the anode terminal of each of the cells being coupled to a respective negative contact of the current carrier. 
     
     
         7 . The energy-storage system of  claim 6  wherein the cathode terminal of each cell is laser welded to the respective positive contact of the current carrier and the anode terminal of each cell is laser welded to the respective negative contact of the current carrier. 
     
     
         8 . The energy-storage system of  claim 6  wherein the current carrier includes a plurality of fuses each electrically coupled to the respective positive contact. 
     
     
         9 . The energy-storage system of  claim 1  wherein the tray is sized and arranged to be disposed in the chassis of an electric vehicle, at least two adjacent modules of the plurality of modules are fluidly and electrically coupled to each other, and the cells are oriented and mounted horizontally in each half module. 
     
     
         10 . The energy-storage system of  claim 1  wherein the cells are oriented and mounted horizontally in each half module and the modules are arranged in six rows with each row consisting of six modules. 
     
     
         11 . The energy storage system of  claim 1  wherein each half module is 70 mm-100 mm wide and the heat exchanger is 2 mm-30 mm wide, and each half module and the heat exchanger are each 250 mm-400 mm long. 
     
     
         12 . A vehicle energy-storage system comprising:
 a plurality of modules, at least two adjacent modules of the plurality of modules being fluidly and electrically coupled to each other, each module comprising:
 two half modules coupled together, each half module including:
 a plurality of cells, the cells being oriented horizontally, the cells being cylindrical rechargeable lithium-ion cells each having a first end and a second end, the first end distal from the second end, and having an anode terminal and a cathode terminal being disposed at the first end; 
 a current carrier electrically coupled to the cells, the cathode terminal of each of the cells being coupled to a respective positive contact of the current carrier, the anode terminal of each of the cells being coupled to a respective negative contact of the current carrier; and 
 an enclosure having the cells and the current carrier disposed therein, the enclosure including a power connector electrically coupled to the plurality of cells; 
 
 a main power connector electrically coupled to the power connectors of the two half modules; and 
 a heat exchanger disposed between the two half modules, the heat exchanger being thermally coupled to each of the plurality of cells of the two half modules at the second end, the heat exchanger being fluidly coupled to a coolant system, the heat exchanger transferring heat from the plurality of cells; 
   a tray having the plurality of modules disposed therein, the tray including:
 a positive bus bar; and 
 a negative bus bar, the positive and negative bus bars being separately electrically coupled to the main power connector associated with each of the plurality of modules; and 
   the coolant system for circulating coolant being pumped into the tray such that each of the modules is at approximately the same predetermined temperature.   
     
     
         13 . The cooling subsystem of claim  18  wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one of aluminum, copper, and an aluminum-copper alloy, and an exterior surface of the heat exchanger comprises at least one of aluminum oxide, diamond powder based materials, and boron nitride. 
     
     
         14 . The cooling subsystem of claim  19  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.