Hybrid thermal system with device-specific control logic

• US 8,948,946 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2012
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Ballnik, Christopher D S, Luo, Xiaowen, Buford, Keith D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Calvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Martinez Borrero, Luis A
• Application Number:
  US13/688,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20140148982A1
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• Field of Search: 701/22, 701/32.9, 701/112, 701/3, 701/113, 701/54, 701/36, 701/51, 123/41.02, 123/41.29, 123/445, 123/446, 123/486, 123/562, 123/563
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/00 Electric propulsion with power supplied within the vehicle with power supply from force of nature, e.g. sun or wind, B60L8/00; for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 15/00 Heat-exchange apparatus with the intermediate heat-transfer medium in closed tubes passing into or through the conduit walls ; Heat-exchange apparatus employing intermediate heat-transfer medium or bodies F28D17/00, F28D19/00, F28D20/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 27/00 Control arrangements or safety devices specially adapted for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus control arrangements in general G05

Abstract

A thermal system includes fluid-cooled devices, a controller, and a thermal loop or loops each having a cooling actuator and fluid passages. The controller executes device-specific control logic to arbitrate between cooling requests having different relative priorities. The controller receives raw speed requests and noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) limits for each device, and processes the raw speed requests and NVH limits to determine a relative cooling priority for each device. The controller outputs a speed command to the actuator(s) for each thermal loop in order to cool the devices at a level required by the device having the highest relative cooling priority. A vehicle includes a traction motor, a transmission that is selectively connected to the traction motor, fluid-cooled devices each in electrical communication with the motor, and a controller configured to execute the arbitration method noted above.

Claims

1. A hybrid thermal system comprising:

a plurality of fluid-cooled devices;

a thermal loop having;

a cooling actuator configured to circulate a cooling fluid to the fluid-cooled devices; and

a fluid passage that connects the cooling actuator to the fluid-cooled devices, and that conducts the cooling fluid to and from the fluid-cooled devices; and

a controller in communication with the fluid-cooled devices and with the cooling actuator, and having a processor and tangible, non-transitory memory on which is recorded device-specific control logic for arbitrating between cooling requests from each of the fluid-cooled devices;

wherein the controller is configured to execute the control logic via the processor to arbitrate between respective cooling requests of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices, and to thereby cause the controller to;

receive, for each of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices, a raw speed request and a corresponding calibrated set of noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) limits that relates a speed of the cooling actuator to a speed of the vehicle for a plurality of different temperatures;

process the raw speed requests and the set of calibrated NVH limits, including assigning a relative cooling priority to each of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices; and

output a speed command to the cooling actuator to thereby cool the fluid-cooled devices at a level required by the fluid-cooled device having the highest assigned relative cooling priority.

2. The hybrid thermal system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fluid-cooled devices includes at least a power inverter module and a rechargeable energy storage system.

3. The hybrid thermal system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fluid-cooled devices includes an auxiliary power module.

4. The hybrid thermal system of claim 1, wherein the thermal loop includes a first thermal loop conducting coolant and a second thermal loop conducting air, and wherein the cooling actuator for the first and second thermal loops includes a pump and a fan, respectively.

5. The hybrid thermal system of claim 1, further comprising at least one temperature sensor that measures one of an inlet temperature into and an internal temperature of a corresponding one of the fluid-cooled devices, wherein the controller is configured to determine the NVH limits using the measured inlet or internal temperature.

6. The hybrid thermal system of claim 5, wherein the controller is further programmed with a calibrated default temperature and to use the calibrated default temperature for a corresponding one of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices to determine the speed request for the corresponding one of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices when the at least one temperature sensor for the corresponding fluid-cooled device is faulty.

7. The hybrid thermal system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes:

a plurality of recorded software control modules, each corresponding to a different one of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices, wherein each software control module includes a portion of the recorded device-specific control logic that is executed by the processor to generate the raw speed request and the NVH limits for the corresponding fluid-cooled device; and

an arbitration module in communication with each of the plurality of recorded software control modules;

wherein the arbitration module includes another portion of the recorded device-specific control logic that is executed by the processor to generate the output speed command for each of the cooling actuators used by the hybrid thermal system.

19. The hybrid thermal system of claim 5, wherein the at least one temperature sensor includes a temperature sensor that measures the internal temperature of a corresponding one of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices.

8. A method comprising:

circulating a cooling fluid through a fluid passage to at least one fluid-cooled device in each of a first and a second thermal loop via a first and second cooling actuator, respectively; and

arbitrating, via a controller, cooling requests from each of the fluid-cooled devices, including;

receiving, for each of the fluid-cooled devices, a raw speed request and a noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) limits that relates a speed of a respective one of the first and second cooling actuators to a reference speed for a plurality of different temperatures;

processing the raw speed requests and the calibrated set of NVH limits, including assigning a relative cooling priority to each of the at least one fluid-cooled devices; and

transmitting a speed command to each of the first and second cooling actuators to thereby cool the at least one fluid-cooled devices in each of the first and second thermal loops at a level required by the fluid-cooled device having the highest relative cooling priority in that particular thermal loop.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein circulating a cooling fluid through a fluid passage includes circulating coolant to at least one fluid-cooled device in the first thermal loop via a fluid pump, and wherein the first cooling actuator is the fluid pump.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one fluid-cooled device includes a traction power inverter module, a rechargeable energy storage system, and an onboard battery charging module.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein circulating a cooling fluid through a fluid passage includes circulating air to at least one fluid-cooled device in the second thermal loop via a fan, and wherein the second cooling actuator is the fan.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one fluid-cooled device includes an auxiliary power module.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving temperature signals from at least one temperature sensor that is positioned to measure one of an inlet temperature into and an internal temperature of a corresponding one of the fluid-cooled devices; and

determining, via the controller, the NVH limits using the measured inlet or internal temperature.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

recording a default cooling request for each fluid-cooled device in memory of the controller; and

executing a remedial action using the default cooling request when the at least one temperature sensor for the corresponding fluid-cooled device is faulty.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one temperature sensor includes a temperature sensor positioned to measure the internal temperature of a corresponding one of the fluid-cooled devices, the method comprising determining, via the controller, which of the NVH limits to use via the measured internal temperature.

15. A vehicle comprising:

an electric traction motor having an output member;

a transmission having an input member that is selectively connected to the output member of the electric traction motor;

a plurality of fluid-cooled devices each in electrical communication with the electric traction motor;

a first thermal loop having;

a pump configured to circulate coolant; and

conduit connecting the pump to the fluid-cooled devices cooled via the first thermal loop, and conducting the coolant to and from the fluid-cooled devices in the first thermal loop;

a second thermal loop separate from the first thermal loop and having;

a fan configured to circulate air; and

air ducts connecting the fan to the fluid-cooled devices that are cooled via the second thermal loop, and conducting the air to and from the fluid-cooled devices in the second thermal loop; and

a controller in communication with the fluid-cooled devices of the first and second thermal loops, the pump, and the fan, and having a processor and tangible, non-transitory memory on which is recorded device-specific control logic for arbitrating between cooling requests from each of the fluid-cooled devices;

wherein the controller is configured to execute the device-specific control logic via the processor to thereby cause the processor to;

receive, for each of the fluid-cooled devices, a raw speed request and a set of calibrated noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) limits that relates a speed of a respective one of the pump and the fan to a speed of the vehicle for a plurality of different temperatures;

process the raw speed requests and the calibrated set of NVH limits, including assigning a relative cooling priority to each of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices; and

output a speed command to the pump and to the fan to thereby cool the plurality of fluid-cooled devices at a level required by the fluid-cooled device having the highest relative cooling priority for that particular thermal loop.

16. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein the plurality of fluid-cooled devices in the first thermal loop includes a power inverter module and a rechargeable energy storage system, and wherein the plurality of fluid-cooled devices in the second thermal loop includes an auxiliary power module.

17. The vehicle of claim 15, further comprising at least one temperature sensor positioned and configured to measure one of an inlet temperature into and an internal temperature of a corresponding one of the fluid-cooled devices, wherein the sensor is in communication with the controller and the controller is configured to determine the NVH limits using the measured inlet or internal temperature.

18. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to record a default cooling request, as a remedial action, for a corresponding one of the plurality of fluid-cooled devices when the at least one temperature sensor for the corresponding fluid-cooled device is faulty.