Heat exchanger
A heat exchanger for a vehicle heat management system including a first cooling loop and a second cooling loop which is separate from the first cooling loop. The heat exchanger is configured to enable a thermal coupling of the first cooling loop and the second cooling loop. In a coupled condition, the first cooling loop, the second cooling loop and the heat exchanger are configured such that heat can be dissipated from one or more vehicle elements of a vehicle to the first cooling loop and can be further dissipated from the first cooling loop to the second cooling loop via the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is configured to electrically isolate the first cooling loop from the second cooling loop.
1 . A heat exchanger for a vehicle heat management system, the heat exchanger comprising:
at least one first hollow flow plate configured to be connected to a first cooling loop; and
at least one second hollow flow plate configured to be connected to a second cooling loop,
wherein the heat exchanger is configured to thermally couple the first cooling loop and the second cooling loop such that, in a coupled condition, heat is transferable from one or more vehicle elements to the first cooling loop and from the first cooling loop to the second cooling loop via the heat exchanger,
wherein the heat exchanger is further configured to electrically isolate the first cooling loop from the second cooling loop,
wherein each of the at least one first hollow flow plate and the at least one second hollow flow plate comprises at least one inlet configured to allow inflow of a cooling agent and at least one outlet configured to allow outflow of the cooling agent, and
wherein each of the at least one first hollow flow plate and the at least one second hollow flow plate has an essentially rectangular shape, with the at least one inlet and the at least one outlet arranged in diagonally opposite corners to enable an essentially diagonal flow of fluid through hollow portions thereof.
2 . The heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second hollow flow plates comprise one or more flow channels for allowing cooling agent to flow through, and wherein the first and second hollow flow plates are arranged opposite each other and define a gap in between so that the first and second hollow flow plates are not in electrical contact with each other.
3 . The heat exchanger according to claim 2 , wherein at least one thermal pad is provided in the gap, wherein the thermal pad comprises a dielectric material which is configured to thermally couple the first hollow flow plate to the second hollow flow plate and electrically isolate the first hollow flow plate from the second hollow flow plate.
4 . The heat exchanger according to claim 2 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of first hollow flow plates and a plurality of second hollow flow plates and wherein the first hollow flow plates and second hollow flow plates are arranged alternately in series forming respective gaps in between, wherein in each gap at least one thermal pad is arranged.
5 . The heat exchanger according to claim 4 , wherein the thermal pad comprises a solid body.
6 . A vehicle comprising the heat exchanger according to claim 1 .
7 . The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle.
8 . A vehicle heat management system, comprising:
the heat exchanger according to claim 1 ;
the first cooling loop; and
the second cooling loop which is separate from the first cooling loop.
9 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 8 , wherein the second cooling loop is connected to a heat sink configured to dissipate heat from the second cooling loop to an environment.
10 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 8 , wherein the heat sink is a radiator configured to dissipate heat from the second cooling loop to an environment.
11 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 8 , wherein the first cooling loop comprises a first cooling agent and the second cooling loop comprises a second cooling agent, wherein the two cooling agents are different.
12 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 11 , wherein the first cooling agent is a non-dielectric cooling agent, and the second cooling agent is a dielectric cooling agent.
13 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 11 , wherein the first and/or second cooling agents are fluids.
14 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 11 , wherein the first and/or second cooling agents are dielectric liquids.
15 . The vehicle heat management system according to claim 11 , the first and/or second cooling agents comprise a mixture of water and glycol.
16 . An electric vehicle, comprising the vehicle heat management system according to claim 8 .