US-12620651-B2 - Thermal management system for a battery and methods of using the system

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for using a thermal management system to cool a battery cell. The disclosed devices include a housing, a plurality of battery cells, a coolant loop, a circulation pump, a refrigerator, and a control valve for periodically reversing the flow of coolant within the coolant loop.

Inventors

• EYTAN ADLER
• Joaquim R.R.A. Martins

Assignees

• THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230307

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A battery thermal management system comprising: a housing; a plurality of battery cells positioned in the housing, the plurality of battery cells extending from a first end to a second end in the housing; a coolant loop in thermal communication with at least a portion of the battery cells, the coolant loop including a circulation pump for circulating the coolant within the coolant loop, the coolant loop including a refrigerator for cooling heated coolant; a control valve for regulating the flow of the coolant in the coolant loop, the control valve being alterable between a first position and a second position, wherein the control valve in the first position receives the coolant from the circulation pump and directs the coolant to flow from the first end to the second end of the battery cells to produce heated coolant, wherein the heated coolant is received by the control valve in the first position and directed to the refrigerator for cooling, and wherein the control valve in the second position receives the coolant from the circulation pump and directs the coolant to flow from the second end to the first end of the battery cells to produce the heated coolant, wherein the heated coolant is received by the control valve in the second position and directed to the refrigerator for cooling.
2. 2 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the control valve is positioned directly within the housing.
3. 3 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the coolant loop is in direct contact with or positioned proximal to the battery cells.
4. 4 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 further comprising: a first temperature sensor for monitoring the temperature of coolant or battery cells positioned at or proximal to the first end; a second temperature sensor for monitoring the temperature of coolant or battery cells positioned at or proximal to the second end; a computer system comprising a processor and a memory, the computer system being configured to: (A1) receive temperature data from the first temperature sensor; (B1) alter the control valve to transition from the first position to the second position when the first temperature sensor reaches a first set-point temperature; or (A2) receive temperature data from the second temperature sensor; (B2) alter the control valve to transition from the second position to the first position when the second temperature sensor reaches a second set-point temperature.
5. 5 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 further comprising a computer system comprising a processor and a memory, the computer system being configured to: alter the control valve to periodically transition between the first position and the second position after a set duration.
6. 6 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the control valve is a four-way valve.
7. 7 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the coolant is selected from a tetrafluoroethane, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, or mixtures thereof.
8. 8 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the battery cells comprise a battery type selected from lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, nickel metal hydride, nickel cadmium, nickel hydrogen, nickel zinc, silver zinc, or combinations thereof.
9. 9 . The battery thermal management system of claim 1 further comprising columns of battery cells arranged within the housing.
10. 10 . The battery thermal management system of claim 9 , wherein the coolant loop is arranged in a bandolier configuration.
11. 11 . The battery thermal management system of claim 9 , wherein the coolant loop is arranged in a continuous ribbon configuration.
12. 12 . A method for cooling battery cells using a thermal management system, the thermal management system having a plurality of battery cells positioned in a housing wherein the battery cells extend from a first end to a second end in the housing, a coolant loop in thermal communication with at least a portion of the battery cells wherein the coolant loop has a circulation pump for circulating coolant within the coolant loop, wherein the coolant loop has a refrigerator for cooling heated coolant, and a control valve for regulating flow in the coolant loop, the method comprising: circulating coolant from the circulation pump to the control valve in a first position, wherein the first position of the control valve directs coolant to flow from the first end to the second end of the battery cells to produce a heated coolant, wherein the heated coolant is received by the control valve in the first position and directed to the refrigerator for cooling; and altering the control valve from the first position to a second position, wherein the control valve in the second position receives the coolant from the circulation pump and directs the coolant to flow from the second end to the first end of the battery cells to produce the heated coolant, and wherein the heated coolant is received by the control valve in the second position and directed to the refrigerator for cooling.
13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the control valve is positioned directly within the housing.
14. 14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the coolant loop is in direct contact with or positioned proximal to the battery cells.
15. 15 . The method of claim 12 further comprising: measuring a temperature of the battery cells or coolant at the first end and altering the control valve from the first position to the second position when the first end of the battery cells reaches a first set-point temperature; or measuring a temperature of the coolant or battery cells at the second end of the battery cells and altering the control valve from the second position to the first position when the second end of the battery cells reaches a second set-point temperature.
16. 16 . The method of claim 12 further comprising: altering the control valve to periodically transition between the first position and the second position after a set duration.
17. 17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the control valve is a four-way valve.
18. 18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the coolant is selected from a tetrafluoroethane, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, or mixtures thereof.
19. 19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the battery cells comprise a battery type selected from lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, nickel metal hydride, nickel cadmium, nickel hydrogen, nickel zinc, silver zinc, or combinations thereof.
20. 20 . The method of claim 12 further comprising columns of battery cells arranged within the housing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 63/318,044 filed Mar. 9, 2022. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH This invention was made with government support under grant number 80NSSC18M0151 awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The government has certain rights in this invention. BACKGROUND As the power density of batteries continues to increase, engineers must consider the thermal constraints on the battery cells more and more. If the cooling system is inadequately sized, the performance of the battery-powered vehicle or aircraft suffers. A common limiting factor that determines the size of the thermal management system (TMS) is the temperature of the hottest battery cell, since it is the one closest to exceeding the temperature constraint. The most popular battery pack cooling methods are using bandoliers or a continuous ribbon. The bandolier (sometimes called bandolero) method uses a series of parallel cooling channels through the battery pack. In contrast, the continuous ribbon technique has a single cooling ribbon that serpentines through the battery cells. Both methods face a similar problem, in that, as the coolant travels past the battery cells it heats up, causing the battery cells toward the end of the ribbon to be cooled less than the batteries at the beginning of the ribbon. Since the hottest batteries size the cooling system, the TMS must be sized to keep temperature of the battery cells at the end of the cooling ribbon under the temperature constraint. This leaves the batteries at the beginning of the coolant loop colder than they need to be, meaning more energy has been put into cooling the batteries than is ideal. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved battery thermal management system. SUMMARY Disclosed are battery thermal management systems and methods of using the same. The present disclosure addresses the aforementioned drawbacks by providing systems and methods that periodically change the direction of coolant flow in a battery housing using a control valve, and an optional computer system that determines when to actuate and reverse the flow of coolant. The computer system determines when to actuate the control valve to reverse the flow of coolant based on coolant and/or battery cell temperatures. This allows the thermal management system to direct the coldest coolant to the hotter side of the battery pack first. The result is a cooled battery pack with a more uniform temperature profile. More uniform temperature means all the batteries can be at a temperature near a specified constraint, as opposed to just the ones at the end of a cooling loop. Thus, less energy and weight are wasted on the thermal management system. Additionally, cell efficiency is optimized at moderate temperatures. The provided thermal management system and method can hold all of the cells closer to the optimum temperature so they perform more efficiently, further improving vehicle or aircraft range. In some embodiments, the control valve is built directly into the battery housing so that integrating the present disclosure into a vehicle or aircraft could be as easy as swapping out the housing. This present disclosure allows the thermal management system to switch the coolant flow direction intelligently and automatically, as opposed to conventional battery coolant loops being stuck in a single configuration. This modification provides a lighter and more efficient thermal management system, resulting in better vehicle and aircraft performance. In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a battery thermal management system comprising: a housing; a plurality of battery cells positioned in the housing, the plurality of battery cells extending from a first end to a second end in the housing; a coolant loop in thermal communication with at least a portion of the battery cells, the coolant loop including a circulation pump for circulating the coolant within the coolant loop, the coolant loop including a refrigerator for cooling heated coolant; a control valve for regulating the flow of the coolant in the coolant loop, the control valve being alterable between a first position and a second position, wherein the control valve in the first position receives the coolant from the circulation pump and directs the coolant to flow from the first end to the second end of the battery cells to produce heated coolant, wherein the heated coolant is received by the control valve in the first position and directed to the refrigerator for cooling, and wherein the control valve in the second position receives the coolant from the circulation pump and directs the coolant to flow from the second end to the first end of the battery cells to produce the heated coolant, wherein the heated coolant is received by the control valve in the second position and directed to the refrigerator for cooling. In some embodiments, the control