Cooling modes to manage a high voltage battery for a vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle climate control system includes a cooling system including a chiller, a coolant circuit, a refrigerant circuit, a pump, and a compressor. The coolant circuit bypasses the chiller. The refrigerant circuit incorporates the chiller. The pump is configured to move coolant through the coolant circuit. The compressor is configured to move refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit. The vehicle climate control system also includes a controller configured to, in response to a temperature of a battery exceeding a threshold while the pump is moving fluid through the coolant circuit, activate the chiller and the compressor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle climate control system comprising:
 a cooling system including a chiller, a coolant circuit selectively incorporating or bypassing the chiller, a refrigerant circuit incorporating the chiller, a pump configured to move coolant through the coolant circuit, and a compressor configured to move refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit; and   a controller configured to, in response to a temperature of a battery exceeding a threshold while the pump is moving fluid through the coolant circuit, activate the chiller and the compressor.   
     
     
         2 . The climate control system of  claim 1  further comprising a radiator disposed within the coolant circuit and configured to cool the coolant moving there through. 
     
     
         3 . The climate control system of  claim 2  further comprising a fan disposed within the coolant circuit and configured to direct air over the radiator, wherein the controller is further configured to activate the fan in response to a temperature of the coolant falling below the threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The climate control system of  claim 1 , further comprising a heater disposed within the coolant circuit, wherein the controller is further configured to deactivate the chiller and activate the heater in response to a temperature of the battery falling below another threshold while the coolant is moving through the coolant circuit. 
     
     
         5 . The climate control system of  claim 1 , wherein the cooling system further includes another refrigerant circuit bypassing the chiller and incorporating an evaporator, wherein the compressor is configured to move refrigerant through the refrigerant circuits based on whether a request for cabin cooling is present. 
     
     
         6 . A thermal management method comprising:
 in response to a temperature of a battery exceeding a threshold while a pump moves coolant through a coolant circuit that bypasses a chiller, altering an activation state of valving such that the coolant circuit incorporates the chiller and activating the chiller while a compressor moves refrigerant through a refrigerant circuit that also incorporates the chiller.   
     
     
         7 . The thermal management method of  claim 6  further comprising, in response to the temperature falling below the threshold, deactivating the compressor and activating a fan configured to blow air across a radiator disposed within the coolant circuit. 
     
     
         8 . The thermal management method of  claim 6  further comprising, in response to the temperature exceeding another threshold, activating an evaporator and altering an activation state of valving such that the refrigerant circuit also incorporates the evaporator. 
     
     
         9 . The thermal management method of  claim 6  further comprising, in response to the temperature falling below another threshold, activating a heater disposed within the coolant circuit and altering an activation state of valving such that the coolant circuit bypasses a radiator. 
     
     
         10 . A vehicle comprising:
 a fraction battery;   a thermal management system including a radiator, chiller, valve, and pump configured to move coolant through a coolant circuit selectively incorporating one of the radiator and chiller based on a position of the valve; and   a controller configured to, in response to a temperature of the coolant traversing a threshold resulting in a battery temperature adjustment demand while the position of the valve is such that the coolant circuit incorporates the radiator and bypasses the chiller, re-position the valve such that the coolant circuit bypasses the radiator and incorporates the chiller.   
     
     
         11 . The vehicle of  claim 10  wherein the thermal management system further includes an evaporator, condenser, second valve, and compressor configured to move refrigerant through a refrigerant circuit selectively incorporating one of the chiller and evaporator based on a position of the second valve. 
     
     
         12 . The vehicle of  claim 11  wherein the controller is further configured to, in response to the temperature exceeding another threshold resulting in a battery temperature adjustment demand while the position of the second valve is such that the refrigerant circuit incorporates the evaporator and bypasses the chiller, re-position the second valve such that the refrigerant circuit bypasses the evaporator and incorporates the chiller. 
     
     
         13 . The vehicle of  claim 11  further comprising a third valve disposed within the refrigerant circuit, wherein the controller is further configured to position the third valve to incorporate the chiller and evaporator in the refrigerant circuit while the coolant moves through the coolant circuit based on a cabin temperature adjustment demand. 
     
     
         14 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to, in response to the temperature of the coolant exceeding another threshold resulting in a cabin temperature adjustment demand while the refrigerant moves through the refrigerant circuit and the position of the second valve is such that the refrigerant circuit bypasses the evaporator and incorporates the chiller, alter a position of the second valve to incorporate the evaporator in the refrigerant circuit. 
     
     
         15 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to, in response to the temperature of the coolant traversing the threshold, modulate a position of the third valve to adjust cooling capacity of the chiller.