DE-102020119313-B4 - Cooling system of a vehicle with a thermoelectric module integrated into the cooling circuit of an internal combustion engine

DE102020119313B4DE 102020119313 B4DE102020119313 B4DE 102020119313B4DE-102020119313-B4

Abstract

Cooling system of a vehicle, comprising: a first refrigerant line (10) configured to circulate a refrigerant between an internal combustion engine (11) and a first radiator (12), and comprising a main line (13) which is a closed circuit to connect the internal combustion engine (11) to the first radiator (12); a second refrigerant line (20) configured to circulate the refrigerant between a thermoelectric module (21) and a second radiator (22) to generate electricity from heat in an exhaust gas released by the combustion engine (11), and configured to circulate the refrigerant passing through the thermoelectric module (21) to a heating element (15) in a cold start mode; a supply line (30) configured to connect an inlet side of the combustion engine (11) in the first refrigerant line (10) and an inlet side of the thermoelectric module (21) in the second refrigerant line (20) to supply the refrigerant in the first refrigerant line (10) to the second refrigerant line (20); and a return line (40) configured to connect an outflow side of the thermoelectric module (21) in the second refrigerant line (20) and an outflow side of the combustion engine (11) in the first refrigerant line (10) to return the refrigerant in the second refrigerant line (20) to the first refrigerant line (10), the cooling system further comprising: a first pump (16) which is provided on an inflow side of a connection point of the main line (13) and the supply line (30), and a second pump (23) which is provided on an inflow side of a connection point of the second refrigerant line (20) and the supply line (30), wherein in the cold start mode, in which the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the combustion engine (11) is less than a first reference temperature (T1), the first pump (16) supplies some refrigerant to the thermoelectric module (21) through the supply line (30) and the second pump (23) is not operated when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the combustion engine (11) is less than the first reference temperature (T1).

Inventors

Dae Kwang KIM
Young Ho Jung
Cheol Soo Park

Assignees

HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
KIA MOTORS CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20200722
Priority Date: 20200410

Claims (4)

Cooling system of a vehicle, comprising: a first refrigerant line (10) configured to circulate a refrigerant between an internal combustion engine (11) and a first radiator (12), and comprising a main line (13) forming a closed circuit to connect the internal combustion engine (11) to the first radiator (12); a second refrigerant line (20) configured to circulate the refrigerant between a thermoelectric module (21) and a second radiator (22) for generating electricity from heat in an exhaust gas emitted by the internal combustion engine (11), and configured to circulate the refrigerant passing through the thermoelectric module (21) to a heater (15) in a cold-start mode; a supply line (30) configured to connect an inflow side of the combustion engine (11) in the first refrigerant line (10) and an inflow side of the thermoelectric module (21) in the second refrigerant line (20) to supply the refrigerant in the first refrigerant line (10) to the second refrigerant line (20); and a return line (40) configured to connect an outflow side of the thermoelectric module (21) in the second refrigerant line (20) and an outflow side of the combustion engine (11) in the first refrigerant line (10) to return the refrigerant in the second refrigerant line (20) to the first refrigerant line (10), the cooling system further comprising: a first pump (16) located on an inflow side of a connection point between the main line (13) and the supply line (30), and a second pump (23) located on an inflow side of a connection point between the second refrigerant line (20) and the supply line (30), whereby, in the cold-start mode, where the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the combustion engine (11) is less than a first reference temperature (T1), the first pump (16) supplies some refrigerant to the thermoelectric module (21) through the supply line (30) and the second pump (23) is not operated when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the combustion engine (11) is less than the first reference temperature (T1).
Cooling system after Claim 1 , wherein the first refrigerant line (10) has: a bypass line (14) configured to connect the inflow side with the outflow side of the first radiator (12) in the main line (13) to divert a refrigerant in the main line (13) to the heater (15) for heating the vehicle, wherein the return line (40) is configured to connect the outflow side of the thermoelectric module (21) in the second refrigerant line (20) and an inflow side of the heater (15) in the bypass line (14).
Cooling system after Claim 2 , further comprising: a valve (31) provided in the supply line (30) such that it controls whether the supply line (30) is open or closed; and a control device (50) configured to control the second pump (23) and the valve (31) based on a temperature of the refrigerant in the first refrigerant line (10).
Cooling system after one of the Claims 1 until 3 , further comprising: a valve (31) configured to control whether the first and second refrigerant lines (10, 20) are to be connected to each other via the supply line (30); and a control device (50) configured to control the valve (31) based on the temperature of the refrigerant in the first refrigerant line (10).

Description

The invention relates to a cooling system of a vehicle. Generally, a vehicle obtains energy by burning fuel in an internal combustion engine. Here, approximately 30% of the fuel's chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy, and the remainder is released as heat. Specifically, the heat generated by the internal combustion engine is transferred via a refrigerant and released through a radiator or dissipated as exhaust gas. Exhaust gas typically releases heat at the highest temperature and is generally discharged to the outside via an exhaust pipe. Accordingly, techniques for recovering waste heat from the exhaust gas have been developed to improve the thermal efficiency of the internal combustion engine. Among the technologies is a thermoelectric generator (TEG), which is related to thermoelectric power generation and is a system for generating electrical energy using exhaust gas. For thermoelectric power generation, the TEG should be equipped with a device that recovers heat from high-temperature exhaust gas and generates electricity, and should have a separate low-temperature device to create a temperature difference. A low-temperature device of a conventional thermoelectric power generation system, as in 1 As shown, a separate circuit is formed, or a method is used that connects to a cooling circuit already present in the internal combustion engine. In the case of a separate circuit, the amount of electricity generated increases, but the heat energy recovered from the high-temperature device of a thermoelectric module cannot be used. In the case of connection to the cooling circuit of the internal combustion engine, the temperature difference between the high-temperature and low-temperature devices decreases because the temperature of the refrigerant flowing into the low-temperature device after passing through the internal combustion engine is relatively high, leading to a reduction in electricity generation. From the KR 10 2011 132 678 A is another conventional cooling system of a vehicle. The invention creates a vehicle cooling system that is suitable for efficiently generating electricity from a thermoelectric module and improving fuel efficiency. This problem is solved by a vehicle cooling system according to claim 1. Further developments are the subject of the dependent claims. The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows: 1 a diagram that conceptually represents a conventional vehicle cooling system; 2 a diagram that conceptually represents a cooling system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention; 3 a diagram illustrating refrigerant circulation when the vehicle's cooling system is off 2 is in a cold start mode; 4 a diagram illustrating refrigerant circulation when the vehicle's cooling system is off 2 is in a power generation maximization mode; 5 a diagram illustrating refrigerant circulation when the vehicle's cooling system is off 2 is in a system cooling mode; and 6 a flowchart illustrating the operation of a control unit of the vehicle's cooling system 2 represents. It is understood that the term "vehicle" or "vehicle-" or any other similar term as used herein includes general motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, including SUVs, buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft, including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, as well as hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles, and other vehicles using alternative fuels (e.g., fuels derived from raw materials other than petroleum). As referenced herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of propulsion, for example, both a gasoline engine and an electric engine. The terminology used herein is solely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It is further understood that the terms "shows" and/or "showing" when used in this context The description is used to describe the presence of the mentioned features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed elements. Throughout the description, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the word "exhibit" and variations such as "exhibits" or "exhibiting" are to be understood as implying the inclusion of the mentioned elements but not the exclusion of any other elements. Furthermore, the terms "unit,""-er,""-or," and "module," as described in the description, mean units for processing at least one function and operation and can be implemented by hardware components or sof