Rolls-royce Corporation

Michael A Zagrodnik

Amit K Gupta

Xiong Liu

Amit Gupta

Chandana Gajanayake

Pradip Chatterjee

Liu Xiong

A thermal regulating unit for regulating the temperature of a pouch cell battery is provided. The thermal regulating unit is formed as a container having: one or more internal cooling channels for conveying a liquid coolant through the unit; a flexible outer covering which contains the cooling channels; and inlet and outlet ports which penetrate the covering for respectively providing liquid coolant to and removing the liquid coolant from the cooling channels. The flexible outer covering forms a substantially flat major external surface of the unit corresponding in shape to, and for pressing against, a major external surface of the pouch cell battery such that the unit and the pouch cell battery can be held in face-to-face contact. The cooling channels are arranged in the flexible outer covering such that when the provided liquid coolant is pressurized it causes the unit to expand and press against the major external surface of the pouch cell battery.

Battery thermal regulating unit

Electrical power systems having variable-voltage DC busses and methods of controlling voltage settings of such busses. One electrical power system comprises: a variable-voltage DC bus; a number N&#x2265;2 of electrical machines, each electrical machine connected to the variable-voltage DC bus via one of a corresponding number N of converters, each electrical machine and corresponding converter having an index n=(1, . . . , N); and a controller configured to select a voltage setting Vfor the variable-voltage DC bus and to provide control signals to the converters to control the voltage setting of the variable-voltage DC bus according to the selected voltage setting V. The controller configured to select a voltage setting Vgreater than or equal to a minimum voltage requirement Vfor the bus. The controller is configured to determine the minimum voltage requirement Vusing present operating speeds of each of the N electrical machines.

Electrical power systems

Electrical power supply system having a DC distribution bus; a rechargeable battery module which delivers DC power to the DC distribution bus in a discharge mode, and absorbs DC power from the DC distribution bus in a recharge mode; a DC/DC converter comprising an inductor and plural switches, the DC/DC converter being connected between the DC distribution bus and the rechargeable battery module; and a heat transfer arrangement configured to transfer heat between the DC/DC converter and the rechargeable battery module. The module has an idling mode of operation in which it neither delivers nor absorbs DC power to/from DC distribution bus, wherein the converter is repeatedly switchable between (i) a ramping-up configuration in which a current is withdrawn from a source, and (ii) a freewheeling configuration in which the current from the ramping-up configuration is isolated from the source to flow in a continuous loop within the converter.

Growing community of inventors

Derby, United Kingdom

Michael A Zagrodnik