Analyses of an integrated thermal management system for electric vehicles

Electric vehicle thermal management system (EVTMS) is a promising method to solve cabin thermal comfort and electronics waste heat. In this paper, an integrated EVTMS combining heat pump, battery cooling, and motor waste heat recovery was proposed. EVTMS performance tests were firstly carried out in the environment chamber with variations of refrigerant charge, electronic expansion valve (EXV) opening, compressor speed, environmental temperature, and waste heat amount. Moreover, the comprehensive energy, exergy, and thermo‐economy analyses for EVTMS were performed based on the experimental results. The results demonstrate that the optimum refrigerant charge for baseline EVTMS is 810 g, and the optimum EXV opening is in the range of 70% to 90%. Accordingly, the percentage of cooling capacity reduction (PCCR) and the percentage of waste heat recovery (PWHR) are in the range of 26.3% to 32.1% and 18.73% to 45.17%, respectively. The exergy destruction ratio of the scroll compressor and external heat exchanger is more than 80%. With the utilization of the proposed EVTMS, the operation cost per hundred kilometers for heating mode is decreased 20.83% compared with that of positive temperature coefficient heaters.     

Comprehensive exergy analysis of a ground-source heat pump system for both building heating and cooling modes

This paper presents a comprehensive exergy analysis of three circuits and whole system of a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) for both building heating and cooling modes. The purpose is to search out the key potential energy saving components. The analytical formulae of exergy loss, exergy efficiency, exergy loss ratio, exergy loss coefficient and thermodynamic perfect degree are derived, respectively. The results show that these exergy indexes should be used integratively, and in the whole system the location of maximum exergy loss ratio is the compressor, while the location of minimum exergy efficiency and thermodynamic perfect degree is the ground heat exchanger, so that the compressor and the ground heat exchanger should be primarily improved. The results also indicate that the exergy loss of a GSHP system for building heating mode is bigger than that of cooling mode, and the exergy efficiency of a whole GSHP system is obviously lower than those of its components for both building heating and cooling modes. Therefore, a comprehensive exergy analysis of a GSHP should be paid more attention to. The results may provide guidelines for the design and optimization of GSHP systems.     

Performance characteristics of mobile heat pump for a large passenger electric vehicle

In this study, the performance of a mobile heat pump for an electric bus, which uses the wasted heat of electric devices for a heating and air source for a cooling, was evaluated. Both cooling and heating performances of the mobile heat pump were tested under various experimental conditions, and then optimized by varying the refrigerant charge and the compressor frequency. The cooling capacity at all compressor frequencies was over 23.0 kW, which is sufficient for the cooling loads of an electric bus. The heating COP decreased but the heating capacity increased with the rise of outdoor temperature and the compressor frequency. The heating COP was 2.4 at an outdoor temperature of 10.0 °C. The observed heating and cooling performance characteristics of the mobile heat pump means it could be used for cabin heating and air conditioning of an electric vehicle with a short driving range.     

锂离子电池热管理技术

电动汽车在应对气候变化和减少碳排放方面显示出了巨大潜力,电池作为电动汽车的动力来源,在性能和安全方面受温度影响很大。一套有效的热管理控制系统能使电池组温度保持在最佳工作范围内,提高整车的续驶里程。主要总结了目前对电池进行散热和保温的主流电池热管理技术——风冷、液冷、相变冷却、热管冷却以及电池加热技术。提出电池热管理技术应往智能化、集成化、与机器学习相结合、能够自适应调节电池生态温度的方向发展,将会有很大的研究空间。     

Analysis of Heat Dissipation Performance between a Horizontal and Longitudinal Battery Pack Based on Forced Air Cooling

A battery pack is the main energy storage element, and directly affects the performance of an electric vehicle. Battery thermal management system research and its development for a modern electric vehicle is required. This paper selects the forced air cooling of battery pack as the research object, and uses simulation methods to research the heat dissipation performance with different structures of battery packs. The results indicate that according to the four types of transient state conditions, the rising temperature of both battery packs are significantly higher than the temperature difference, the maximum temperature rise and temperature difference of a horizontal battery pack are lower than a longitudinal battery pack. When an electric vehicle begins to decrease speed, the curves of temperature rising and temperature difference increase. This shows the internal heat is continuously rising, so even in a electric vehicle beginning to decrease speed, the fan must work. The reference basis for choosing battery pack type and an analysis of heat flow field characteristics, including fan run‐time control, are offered.     

Performance assessment of thermal management systems for electric and hybrid electric vehicles

Thermal management systems (TMS) are one of the key components of electric and hybrid electric vehicles to achieve high vehicle efficiency and performance under all operating conditions. Current improvements in electric battery technology allow vehicles to have relatively long ranges, fast acceleration, and long life while keeping low‐maintenance costs and considerably lower emissions. However, the vehicle performance is significantly affected by the battery operating conditions. Moreover, the cell life cycle, safety, and possibility of thermal runaway significantly depend on peak temperature rise and temperature uniformity of the battery. Therefore, various TMSs are created to keep batteries within ideal operating ranges. In this article, three different TMS systems—passive cabin cooling (via air), active moderate liquid circulation (via refrigerant), and active liquid circulation (via refrigerant and coolant)—are analyzed and compared with electric and hybrid electric vehicles. A second law analysis is used to examine the areas of low exergy efficiency in each system and minimize the entropy generation based on the system configuration. Moreover, TMS systems are compared on the basis of battery temperature increase and temperature uniformity. Various parametric studies are conducted to compare the TMS in different ambient and operating conditions. On the basis of the analysis, the active liquid circulation (via refrigerant and coolant) is determined to have the lowest battery temperature increase (3.9 °C in 30 min) and most cell temperature uniformity (2.5 °C median) as well as the lowest entropy generation rate (0.0121 W/K) among the compared systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

增设通风孔的风冷式锂离子电池热管理系统数值研究

电池热管理系统的优化设计可以维持动力电池的高效性能,进而促进电动汽车产业的发展。本文采用CFD方法研究有通风孔的情况下,风冷式锂离子电池组在放电过程中的散热性能。研究结果发现,在电池组外壳增设通风孔可以明显提高整个电池组的冷却效果。风孔开设在主出风口的相反方向时,电池组的温升和温差最小。当风孔的面积与出口面积相等时,电池组的冷却效果最佳;继续增大风孔对电池组的冷却效果影响较小。最后探讨了空气进口温度和电池间冷却通道的变化对电池组散热效果的影响。采用在电池组外壳上开设多个通风孔的办法有助于电池热管理系统的冷却优化设计。     

Recent progress in lithium-ion battery thermal management for a wide range of temperature and abuse conditions

Lithium-ion batteries are important power sources for electric vehicles and energy storage devices in recent decades. Operating temperature, reliability, safety, and life cycle of batteries are key issues in battery thermal management, and therefore, there is a need for an effective thermal-management system. This review summarises the latest research progress on lithium-ion battery thermal management under high temperature, sub-zero temperature, and abuse conditions. Heat generation mechanisms are characterised under both normal and abuse conditions. Different cooling methods, which include air cooling, liquid cooling, phase change cooling, heat pipe cooling, and their combinations are reviewed and discussed. Thereafter, features of different battery heating methods such as air/liquid heating, alternate current heating, and internal self-heating are discussed. An improvement in battery safety under abuse conditions is discussed from the perspective of battery material modification and thermal management design. The research progress in recent investigations is summarised, and the prospects are proposed.     

客车发动机舱的热管理系统CFD分析

本文利用Fluent软件对某款的客车热管理系统进行了设计优化,经过分析得出该车低速工况下发动机舱内出现回流现象。在风扇卷吸气流的过程中,被中冷器、水散热器加热的气流有较大一部分经发动机舱室下部回流至客车侧面通风格栅,这样不利于客车发动机舱内的散热,尤其是对客车在低速、大扭矩工况下的运行影响较大。通过计算验证产生的回流大部分不是因发动机加热气流引起的,而是由于风扇卷吸气流引起的。经过结构优化后,回流现象得到了很大的改善,满足了客车的热管理系统的设计需求。     

变容量家庭能源中心单独制热水模式的实验研究

提出了可全年供应空调和热水需要的变容量家庭能源中心系统,并提出单独制热水模式下的性能系数计算方法。通过对该模式瞬时动态特性的研究,指出变容量压缩机可以有效地保证机组的安全可靠运行。实验研究了单独制热水模式在不同环境温度、不同压缩机负荷条件下的性能。结果表明,在同一压缩机负荷条件下,热水性能系数均随环境温度的升高而升高,与传统热泵热水器的变化趋势相同。而压缩机负荷变化对机组热水性能系数的影响在不同的环境温度下呈现不同的规律,因此,可根据不同的环境温度优化控制压缩机负荷,以提高制热水效率,节约能源。     

Research on heat dissipation performance and flow characteristics of air‐cooled battery pack

With the depletion of fossil fuels and the aggravation of environmental pollution, the research and development speed of electric vehicles has been accelerating, and the thermal management of battery pack has become increasingly important. This paper selects the electric vehicle battery pack with natural air cooling as the study subject, conducts simulation analysis of the heat dissipation performance of battery packs with and without vents. Then this paper researches on the influence of internal flow field and external flow field. Field synergy principle is used to analyze the effect of velocity field and temperature field amplitude. The results show the following: it is found that the maximum temperature rise and the internal maximum temperature difference of the battery pack with vents are reduced by about 23.1% and 19.9%, raising speed value can improve the heat dissipation performance, and raising temperature value can decrease the heat dissipation performance. Reasonable design of the vents can make the inner and outer flow field work synergistically to achieve the best cooling effect. Then the reference basis for the air cooling heat dissipation performance analysis of electric vehicle, battery pack structure arrangement, and air‐inlet and air‐outlet pattern choosing are offered.     

Quantification on the Effects of Liquid-Vapor Separation in Air-Conditioning System by using Advanced Exergy Analysis

Air-conditioning system consumes a large amount of electricity in residential sections, and its efficiency has drawn extensive concerns in energy-conscious era. Liquid-vapor separation is a heat transfer enhancement technology that can effectively improve the performance of the heat exchanger as well as the system. In this paper, a regular air-conditioning system as the baseline(system-A) and other two air-conditioning systems with liquid-vapor separation heat exchanger(system-B and system-C) ar...     

采用不同工质的高温复合热泵开水器特性研究

热泵开水器具有较高的能源利用效率,是公共场所电加热开水装置的理想替代品。从提高能源效率和一机两用的角度,构建了一种高温复合热泵开水器系统。建立了系统热力学模型,选R236fa、R245fa、R365mfc、R245ca、RC318和R236ea等6种较高临界温度的制冷工质,通过能量分析和[火用]分析的方法,探讨了不同制冷工质对高温复合热泵开水器系统性能的影响。研究结果表明:R245fa作为工质的高温复合热泵开水器系统具有最佳的性能,而以RC318作为工质的系统性能最差。在给定工况下,R245fa作为工质系统制热性能系数(COP_h)为2.47,而其制冷性能系数(COP_c)为3.37,[火用]损失和[火用]效率分别为9.47 kW和49.07%;与R245fa相比,RC318作为工质系统的总能耗增加了39.53%。     

太阳能辅助电动汽车热泵空调系统的研究

介绍研制的电动汽车热泵空调系统及其配用的双工作腔滑片压缩机的性能,依据测试样机的试验结果分转速对该空调系统制冷量,输入功率及COP等性能的影响,若轿车顶盖全部布满太阳电池,所产生的电能约为225W,可以使空调系统的制冷量增加8％左右,同时还能降低汽车空调冷负荷的峰值。     

动力汽车用锂电池热管理系统仿真分析

为了研究动力汽车用锂电池温度场分布,建立了单体电池及电池组仿真模型,通过实验与FLUENT软件模拟验证的方式分析单体电池温度场。通过仿真分析讨论电池组温度场,采用三种不同的进出风方式进行空气强制冷却电池组,分析了进出风口有倾角与无倾角的不同温度控制效果,结果表明带有倾角的进出风方式有利于降低电池组最高温度。采用电池组壳体侧面开孔方式进行电池组热管理,可有效改善电池组放电过程的温度分布均匀性。     

Heat transfer in phase change materials for thermal management of electric vehicle battery modules

The temperature of battery modules in electric vehicles (EVs) must be controlled adequately to remain within a specified range for optimum performance. In this paper, thermal management of battery modules with phase change materials (PCMs) is investigated experimentally. An electric heater is used to simulate the heat source of a battery cell. Two different PCM designs are investigated: one with a PCM cylinder surrounding the heater, and the other with PCM jackets wrapping the heater. Both configurations exhibit good effectiveness in maintaining the heater within a desired temperature range. This paper also examines the effectiveness of PCM thermal management under variable heating rates and variable ambient temperatures, as well as the effects of buoyancy during PCM melting.     

Experimental investigation on thermal performance of silica cooling plate‐aluminate thermal plate‐coupled forced convection‐based pouch battery thermal management system

The power battery as an indispensable part of electric vehicle has attracted much attention in recent years. Among these, the lithium‐ion battery is the most important option due to the high energy density, good stability, and low discharge rate. However, the thermal safety problem of lithium‐ion battery cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is very necessary to explore an effective thermal management system for battery module. Here, a thermal silica cooling plate‐aluminate thermal plate (SCP‐ATP) coupling with forced convection air cooling system as a thermal management system is proposed for improving the cooling performance of pouch battery module. The results reveal that the heat dissipating performance and temperature uniformity of pouch battery module with SCP‐ATP are greatly improved compared with other thermal management systems. Moreover, the highest temperature can be controlled below 50°C, and the temperature differences can be maintained with 3°C when the SCP‐ATP coupling forced convection is utilized to enhance the heat transfer coefficient. Furthermore, considering the cooling effectiveness and consumption cost comprehensively, the optimal air velocity of the SCP‐ATP coupling forced convection cooling system is 9 m/s. In addition, the SCP‐ATP filling with different proportions of acetone has also been investigated for pouch battery module, indicating that 50% acetone exhibited a better heat transfer effect than the 30% one. Therefore, this research would provide a significant value in the design and optimization of thermal management systems for battery module.     

Thermal analysis and management of lithium-titanate batteries

Battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles demand batteries that can store large amounts of energy in addition to accommodating large charge and discharge currents without compromising battery life. Lithium-titanate batteries have recently become an attractive option for this application. High current thresholds allow these cells to be charged quickly as well as supply the power needed to drive such vehicles. These large currents generate substantial amounts of waste heat due to loss mechanisms arising from the cell's internal chemistry and ohmic resistance. During normal vehicle operation, an active cooling system must be implemented to maintain a safe cell temperature and improve battery performance and life. This paper outlines a method to conduct thermal analysis of lithium-titanate cells under laboratory conditions. Thermochromic liquid crystals were implemented to instantaneously measure the entire surface temperature field of the cell. The resulting temperature measurements were used to evaluate the effectiveness of an active cooling system developed and tested in our laboratory for the thermal management of lithium-titanate cells.     

燃料重整固体氧化物燃料电池发电系统性能分析及多变量参数优化

以燃料重整的固体氧化物燃料电池发电系统为研究对象,通过数值模拟方法对固体氧化物燃料电池发电系统的性能、(火用)损、(火用)效率以及多变量运行参数优化进行了分析。研究结果表明：重整反应中燃料利用系数、电池工作温度、水碳比、电堆电流密度等参数对系统性能影响显著;电堆工作在不同电流密度下都有其对应的最佳工作温度、最佳燃料利用系数工况点;水碳比会改变重整反应产氢量,从而影响电化学反应速率,空气加热器的(火用)损所占份额最大;优化后的系统效率及(火用)效率为0.480 9和0.462 6,效率提升约4%。     

Transient simulation of a solar-based hydrogen production plant with evacuated tube collector and ejector refrigeration system

This article is a careful examination of an energy poly-generation unit integrated with an evacuated solar thermal tube collector. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis unit is used for hydrogen production, an ejector refrigeration system (ERS) is utilized for cooling demand, and a heater unit is used for heating demand. All sub-systems are validated by considering recent articles. Cooling and heating demand, as well as the net output power are calculated. The modeled poly-generation system's exergy and energy efficiency are maximized by considering the inlet temperature of the heat exchanger and primary pressure of the ejector with the parametric evaluation of the system. The proposed poly-generation set-up can produce cooling load, heating load, and hydrogen with amounts of 5.34 kW, 5.152 kW, and 63 kg/year, respectively. Based on these values, the energy ef?ciency, and exergy ef?ciency are computed to be 64.14%, and 49.62%, respectively. Higher energy and exergy ef?ciencies are obtained by reducing high pressure of the refrigeration cycle or decreasing the temperature outlet of an auxiliary heater. The heat exchanger and thermal energy storage unit have the highest cost rate among all system components with 73,463 $ and 46,357, respectively. Parametric study indicates that the main determinative elements in the total cost rate of the system are the heater, and the solar collector.