“Car owners don’t like the fact that the charging process currently still takes a relatively long time. They feel that this restricts their mobility and flexibility,” explains Dr. Rainer Lübbers, Executive Vice President of the responsible business unit at BENTELER Automotive. Shorter charging times are therefore a factor in promoting the politically desirable broad acceptance of electric vehicles. Up to now, however, the large amount of heat generated during charging at fast charging stations has proven to be an obstacle. With its high-pressure heat exchanger, BENTELER now offers an innovative solution for particularly effective and fast cooling.
The outstanding feature is: The BENTELER high-pressure heat exchanger is installed in the air conditioning circuit. “Coupling battery cooling and air conditioning in this way increases the cooling power available during charging. This shortens the battery charging time,” says Jens-Eike Jesau, the developer responsible. On the one hand, the battery and car interior can be optimally cooled while, on the other, the battery heat can be used to heat the passenger compartment when necessary.
The high-pressure heat exchanger from BENTELER uses CO2 as the cooling medium. The natural refrigerant with the designation R744 is liquefied before entering the cooler. There it evaporates and absorbs the waste heat from the battery charging process. Thanks to the completely sealed system, no CO2 can escape. The cooling capacity of the climate-friendly solution from BENTELER is significantly higher compared to conventional heat exchangers. We are proud to be able to offer this new solution to our e-mobility customers,” says Lübbers. “It’s backed up by our systems expertise as one of the leading global partners to the automotive industry.”
