THERMAL MANAGEMENT MATRIX
First Claim
1. A thermal management matrix for an electrochemical cell array including a plurality of cell elements, the thermal management matrix comprising:
- expanded graphite arranged in a block-like structure, the thermal management system formed substantially of said expanded graphite and said block-like structure including at least one layer of said expanded graphite having a first in-plane thermal conductivity higher than a second in-plane thermal conductivity of a plurality of other layers of expanded graphite neighboring said at least one layer, wherein the thermal management matrix envelopes the electrochemical cell array at least in part and is in thermal contact with the electrochemical cell array.
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Abstract
A thermal management matrix for an electrochemical cell array including a plurality of electrochemical cell elements, the thermal management matrix at least in part enveloping the electrochemical cell array and being in thermal contact therewith. The thermal management matrix includes mainly expanded graphite, wherein the expanded graphite is arranged in the form of a block-like structure and the block includes at least one layer of expanded graphite having a higher in-plane thermal conductivity than the layers neighboring the layer with higher in-plane thermal conductivity. The thermal management matrix may also include phase change materials as a latent heat storage material.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A thermal management matrix for an electrochemical cell array including a plurality of cell elements, the thermal management matrix comprising:
expanded graphite arranged in a block-like structure, the thermal management system formed substantially of said expanded graphite and said block-like structure including at least one layer of said expanded graphite having a first in-plane thermal conductivity higher than a second in-plane thermal conductivity of a plurality of other layers of expanded graphite neighboring said at least one layer, wherein the thermal management matrix envelopes the electrochemical cell array at least in part and is in thermal contact with the electrochemical cell array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A process for producing a thermal management matrix from an expanded graphite, the process comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a planar pre-formed piece from the expanded graphite, said planar preformed piece having an in-plane thermal conductivity in a range of approximately 4 to 50 W/mK; b) placing a layer of a foil of a compressed expanded graphite on top of said planar pre-formed piece of said producing step a), said layer of foil of said compressed expanded graphite having a second in-plane thermal conductivity in a range of approximately 100 to 600 W/mK; c) repeating said producing step a) and said placing step b) and finally said producing step a) to form a block of a desired thickness; and d) boring out a plurality of holes adapted in size to envelope a plurality of electrochemical cell elements. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A process for producing a thermal management matrix from expanded graphite, the process comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a layer of a foil of a compressed expanded graphite having an in-plane thermal conductivity in a range of approximately 100 to 600 W/mK b) producing two pre-formed pieces from the expanded graphite having an in-plane thermal conductivity in a range of approximately 4 to 50 W/mK, said preformed pieces including a plurality of semi-circular grooves equal to one-half of a diameter of an electrochemical cell element; c) placing together said two pre-formed pieces of step a) to form an assembly of a plurality of cylindrical envelopes with said semi-circular grooves; d) placing said assembly of said step c) with a planar side on top of said layer of said foil of said step a); e) providing a second layer of foil of said compressed expanded graphite and placing said second layer of foil on top of an opposite planar side of said assembly formed in step c); and f) repeating said steps b), c) and e) until a block of a desired thickness is formed. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification