Vehicle thermal management
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorsBenjamin C. Groen, Cameron P. Smith, Kyle Holihan, Michael H. Carlson, Nathan J. English, Lawrence P. Ziehr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal management method and system in a vehicle include a chiller to cause heat transfer between a coolant loop that defines a path in which a coolant circulates and a refrigerant loop that defines a path in which a refrigerant circulates. The system includes an electronic expansion valve (EXV) in the refrigerant loop to control a flow of the refrigerant into a first part of the chiller, and a coolant pump in the coolant loop to control a flow of the coolant into a second part of the chiller. A controller controls the EXV and the coolant pump based on a target amount for the heat transfer.
Claims16
A thermal management system in a vehicle comprising:
- a chiller configured to cause heat transfer between a coolant loop that defines a path in which a coolant circulates and a refrigerant loop that defines a path in which a refrigerant circulates;
- an electronic expansion valve (EXV) in the refrigerant loop configured to control a flow of the refrigerant into a first part of the chiller;
- a coolant pump in the coolant loop configured to control a flow of the coolant into a second part of the chiller;
- and
- a controller configured to control the EXV and the coolant pump based on a target amount for the heat transfer, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a current amount of heat transfer in the chiller is less than the target amount and, based on the controller determining that the current amount of heat transfer in the chiller is less than the target amount, the controller is configured to control the EXV to bring a superheat value within a predefined range, the superheat value being a temperature increase of the refrigerant in a vapor phase.
A method of performing thermal management in a vehicle, the method comprising:
- obtaining, using a processor, a passenger cabin temperature setting;
- determining, using the processor, a target output for a chiller based on the temperature setting, wherein the target output is a target thermal energy transfer amount in a chiller from a coolant that circulates in a coolant loop to a refrigerant that circulates in a refrigerant loop;
- controlling, using the processor, an electronic expansion valve (EXV) in the refrigerant loop configured to control a flow of the refrigerant into a first part of the chiller and a coolant pump in the coolant loop configured to control a flow of the coolant into a second part of the chiller based on the target output;
- determining whether a current amount of heat transfer in the chiller is less than the target output;
- and
- based on the controller determining that the current amount of heat transfer in the chiller is less than the target output, controlling the EXV to bring a superheat value within a predefined range, the superheat value being a temperature increase of the refrigerant in a vapor phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.