Experimental study of a direct evaporative cooling approach for Li-ion battery thermal management

A desirable operating temperature range and small temperature gradient is beneficial to the safety and longevity of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, and battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) play a critical role in achieving the temperature control. Having the advantages of direct access and low viscosity, air is widely used as a cooling medium in BTMSs. In this paper, an air-based BTMS is modified by integrating a direct evaporative cooling (DEC) system, which helps reduce the inlet air temperature for enhanced heat dissipation. Experiments are carried out on 18650-type batteries and a 9-cell battery pack to study how relative humidity and air flow rate affect the DEC system. The maximum temperatures, temperature differences, and capacity fading of batteries are compared between three cooling conditions, which include the proposed DEC, air cooling, and natural convection cooling. In addition, a DEC tunnel that can produce reciprocating air flow is assembled to further reduce the maximum temperature and temperature difference inside the battery pack. It is demonstrated that the proposed DEC system can expand the usage of Li-ion batteries in more adverse and intensive operating conditions.     

Liquid cooling based on thermal silica plate for battery thermal management system

To achieve safe, long lifetime, and high‐performance lithium‐ion batteries, a battery thermal management system (BTMS) is indispensable. This is especially required for enabling fast charging‐discharging and in aggressive operating conditions. In this research, a new type of battery cooling system based on thermal silica plates has been designed for prismatic lithium‐ion batteries. Experimental and simulations are combined to investigate the cooling capability of the BTMS associated to different number of cooling channels, flow rates, and flow directions while at different discharge C‐rates. Results show that the maximum temperature reached within the battery decreases as the amount of thermal silica plates and liquid channels increases. The flow direction had no significant influence on the cooling capability. While the performance obviously improves with the increase in inlet flow rate, after a certain threshold, the gain reduces strongly so that it does not anymore justify the higher energy cost. Discharged at 3 C‐rate, an inlet flow rate of 0.1 m/s was sufficient to efficiently cool down the system; discharged at 5 C‐rate, the optimum inlet flow rate was 0.25 m/s. Simulations could accurately reproduce experimental results, allowing for an efficient design of the liquid‐cooled BTMS.     

Simulation analysis of the influence of internal surface morphology of mini-channel on battery thermal management

Lithium-ion batteries, as the only source of driving force for electric vehicles (EV), directly determine the vehicle's power performance, driving mileage, and working stability. The performance, safety, and longevity of lithium-ion batteries are related to battery temperature. In this article, surface topography has been added in mini-channel liquid cooling plate, the influence of different shapes, different heights, different diameters, and different numbers of surface topography on the cooling effect of mini-channel liquid cooling plate were researched by using CFD method. This article revealed that the addition of surface topography in mini-channel can affect the flow trajectory of coolant and improve the cooling capacity of the cold plate. When five cylindrical surface topography with a diameter of 10 mm and a height of 1.5 mm were added in each channel, the highest temperature of the battery can be suppressed to 42.01°C and the maximum temperature difference can reach 15.78°C under 3C discharge rate, compared with the smooth mini-channel, decreased by 1.02°C and 0.85°C, respectively.     

Effects of reciprocating liquid flow battery thermal management system on thermal characteristics and uniformity of large lithium-ion battery pack

To investigate the thermal characteristics and uniformity of a lithium-ion battery (LIB) pack, a second-order Thevenin circuit model of single LIB was modeled and validated experimentally. A battery thermal management system (BTMS) with reciprocating liquid flow was established based on the validated equivalent circuit model. The effects of the reciprocation period, battery module coolant flow rate and ambient temperature on the temperature and the temperature imbalance of batteries were studied. The results illustrate that the temperature difference can be effectively reduced by 3°C when the reciprocating period is 590 seconds. The reciprocating coolant flow rate is 11.5% and 33.3% that of the unidirectional flow BTMS for cooling and heating when same thermal effects are to be achieved. Under the same ambient temperature condition, the maximum temperature and average temperature difference can be reduced by 1.67°C and 3.77°C, respectively, at best for the battery module investigated with a reciprocating liquid-flow cooling system. The average temperature difference and heating power consumption could be reduced by 1.2°C and 14 kJ for reciprocating liquid flow heating system with period of 295 seconds when compared with unidirectional flow. As a result, the thermal characteristics and temperature uniformity can be effectively improved, and the parasitic power consumption can be significantly reduced through adoption of a reciprocating liquid flow BTMS.     

动力电池微细通道散热数值分析研究

动力电池对温度敏感度高,高温散热实现难度较大,尤其是极端环境温度和高倍率放电下。设计了一个微细通道电池液冷散热系统,针对系统进行不同放置方式、环境温度、冷却液入口温度、入口流速的影响研究。发现竖直方式电池组可获得较好的温度分布;环境温度变化对电池组温度变化影响较小;电池组温度与冷却液入口温度基本呈线性变化,冷却液入口流速增加可显著降低电池组最高温度,提高温度均匀性。最后对流道进行尺寸优化,增大高度是较好的优化方案。     

Numerical investigation on integrated thermal management for lithiumion battery pack with phase change material and liquid cooling

为满足3 C放电倍率下电池组散热要求,提出了PCM\液冷复合式散热方案,利用有限元分析了液体流速、流道排列方式、铝制框架鳍宽和环境温度对电池组温度的影响。结果表明,增加流速可优化电池组散热性能,但当流速大于0.08 m/s时,流速的增加对散热系统无明显优化;各流速下Type I散热方式效果均为最优且电池组满足散热要求;鳍宽为2 mm时可将电池组最高温度进一步降低1.6℃;当环境温度从38℃增至42℃时,复合式散热系统体现了良好的热稳定性能。     

Heat dissipation analysis of different flow path for parallel liquid cooling battery thermal management system

As the main form of energy storage for new energy automobile, the performance of lithium-ion battery directly restricts the power, economy, and safety of new energy automobile. The heat-related problem of the battery is a key factor in determining its performance, safety, longevity, and cost. In this paper, parallel liquid cooling battery thermal management system with different flow path is designed through changing the position of the coolant inlet and outlet, and the influence of flow path on heat dissipation performance of battery thermal management system is studied. The results and analysis show that when the inlet and the outlet are located in the middle of the first collecting main and the second collecting main, respectively; system can achieve best heat dissipation performance, the highest temperature decrease by 0.49°C, while the maximum temperature difference of system decreases by 0.52°C compared with typical Z-type BTMS under the discharge rate of 1 C. Then an optimization strategy is put forward to improve cooling efficiency compared with single-inlet and single-outlet symmetrical liquid cooling BTMS; the highest temperature of three-inlet and three-outlet is 27.98°C while the maximum temperature difference of three-inlet and three-outlet is 2.69°C, decrease by 0.7 and 0.67°C, respectively.     

Investigation on thermal management performance of wedge‐shaped microchannels for rectangular Li‐ion batteries

The performance of power battery is a significant factor affecting the overall quality of electric vehicles. To optimize the thermal management effect of battery pack, cold plate with wedge‐shaped microchannels was proposed in this paper. On the basis of the models of the independent cold plate and the battery‐cooling module, the effects of outlet aspect ratio, flow rate, and branching structure on the heat dissipation performance of the cold plate were studied at first. Afterwards, the effects of cooling surface, flow rate, and branching structure on the temperature distribution of the battery module were simulated. The results showed that the wedge‐shaped channels provided a good cooling efficiency and surface temperature uniformity. When the wedge‐shaped channel was used in thermal management of the battery module, the side‐cooling method reduced the temperature difference of batteries by more than 35.71% compared with front cooling under the mass flow rate of 2 × 10^?5 kg/s. At a discharge rate of 3.5 C, the flow rate of 1 × 10^?4 kg/s controlled the battery temperature to within 45°C, and the branching structure designed for the module successfully decreased the maximum temperature difference from 7.27°C to 4.67°C, which has been reduced by approximately 35.78%.     

Heat transfer modeling of a novel battery thermal management system

A battery cooling system is proposed for future carbon-free ammonia-based hybrid electric vehicles. In the proposed design, aluminum cold plates with tubes that are filled with liquid ammonia are placed between the batteries in the battery pack. The ammonia evaporates while cooling the plate, which then cools the batteries in the pack. The generated ammonia vapor passes to the vehicle electrical generator where it is used to produce electrical energy for driving the vehicle or charging the batteries. The proposed system was able to perform better than mini-channel liquid cooling systems, air cooling systems, and direct contact boiling systems.     

新能源汽车动力电池冷却系统热仿真及优化

动力电池的温度控制是新能源汽车发展中的一个难题,而电池冷却系统在动力电池的温度控制过程中起着相当重要的作用。利用Solidworks软件对电池包进行建模,利用ICEM CFD软件对电池包模型进行网格划分等前处理。利用Fluent软件并采用控制变量法分别对冷却管道截面宽度、冷却液质量流量和冷却液进口温度等3个对电池包散热性能影响较大的参数进行仿真计算和对比分析。根据仿真结果选择可优化电池包散热性能的参数,并在原方案基础上提出了一种新的冷却管道分布方案。经过仿真计算发现,该方案可有效降低电池在使用过程中的最高温度和温差,提高了电池冷却系统的散热性能。     

Experimental study on thermal performance of a pumped two-phase battery thermal management system

Battery thermal management system (BTMS) is of great significance to keep battery of new energy vehicle (NEV) within favorable thermal state, which attracts extensively attention from researchers and automobile manufacturers. As one BTMS scheme, pumped two-phase system displays excellent cooling capacity owing to large amount of latent heat usage, while there is limited research efforts focusing on the feasibility of the BTMS scheme. This paper experimentally investigates thermal performance of a pumped two-phase BTMS heated by a dummy battery with relative high heat fluxes. The effects of heat fluxes, flow rates and cold source temperatures on thermal performance have been studied and conclusions have been drawn accordingly. The results show that the thermal performance of the system is generally enhanced with the increase of the refrigerant flow rates. When the heat flux and cold source temperature are 0.11 W/cm² and 10°C, respectively, t_avg and △t_max are decreased by 3.4°C and 0.5°C, respectively, when the refrigerant flow rate is increased from 0.20 to 1.67 L/min. Meanwhile, heat transfer coefficient is also improved with an increase of the flow rates, while the enhancements become less obvious under high heat flux. In addition, the t_avg and △t_max of cold plate surface are increased when the heat flux is elevated, while the t_avg at the low flow rate is increased slightly. However, the increase of △t_max is more obvious at the low flow rate, compared to that at high flow rate. When the heat flux is increased from 0.11 to 0.60 W/cm², t_avg is increased by 3.8°C under the flow rate of 0.2 L/min, while that at the flow rate of 1.67 L/min is almost doubled. Meanwhile, the heat transfer coefficient is increased monotonously at the low flow rate, while that at the high flow rate is first decreased and then increased. Besides, lower surface temperatures can be obtained with low cold source temperatures. However, cold source temperatures affect temperature uniformity less.     

Lithium battery thermal management system for hybrid vehicles

为研究动力电池组的温度特性以及维持其工作在最佳的温度范围内,以锂离子电池为研究对象,设计了一种新型混合动力汽车的电池热管理系统,利用空调系统和发动机排气系统来调控电池组的温度。建立了锂电池组的三维瞬态产热数值模型,以电池组的三维尺寸和进风口流速为输入参数,以降低电池组的最大温升和提高电池组的温度均匀性为输出参数,利用FLUENT仿真软件和DesignXplorer模块进行联合优化设计了电池组的结构。优化后的电池组的温升比优化前降低了5.39 K,电池组温差降低了6.41 K。分析了恒倍率放电以及对流换热系数对单体电池温升的影响,研究表明：放电倍率越大电池温升越快,放电结束后电池的温度越高,在对流换热系数小于30 W/（m²·K）时,散热效果明显。对电池组在不同条件下加热或者冷却进行了仿真分析,验证了该电池热管理系统的可行性。     

A comprehensive thermal analysis for the fast discharging process of a Li-ion battery module with liquid cooling

Appropriate temperature range and distribution is necessary for Li-ion battery module, especially in real application of electric vehicles and other energy storage devices. In this study, a comprehensive design of liquid cooling–based thermal management system for a Li-ion battery module's fast discharging process is investigated, and thermal analysis and numerical computation are conducted. The effects of different flow directions, different shapes of the liquid channels, different widths of channels, different thicknesses of cold plate, and the comparison between uniform and nonuniform channels' distribution are analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the liquid cooling system provides acceptable cooling performance in preventing heat runaway of the battery module under 5C discharging current rate. A five-channel cooling plate can reduce the maximum temperature with appropriate design. Additionally, specific flow direction mini-channels, different shapes of the liquid-channels, and nonuniform channels are designed to compare the maximum temperature and uniformity of temperature distribution in the module. Maximum temperature can be improved through the increase of channel width and thickness of the cooling plate. The original design is proved to be the best design considering the maximum temperature, maximum temperature deviation, and final temperature standard deviation of the fast discharging process.     

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。     

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。     

动力电池支撑架结构设计及散热性能分析

可再生能源的发展势必带动动力电池的发展,在促进退役动力电池循环利用方面也将取得较大成效,在动力电池发展过程中,其安全性是值得广泛关注的重点问题,为提高动力锂电池组放电时散热效率,设计电池组支撑架,采用计算机仿真的方法研究不同支撑架结构、不同工质、不同流速下18650型锂电池构成的动力电池组的热性能。通过对空气和水2种工质流体、工质流速大小、工质入口位置等参数进行组合仿真分析,结果表明,随着工质流速的增加,电池组及支撑架表面的最高温度逐渐降低,当工质流速大于10 m/s时趋于稳定;适当的工质流入口的位置可增强降温效果,在低流速状态下,空气和水分别作为冷却工质时,纵向包裹型电池支撑架比横向包裹型电池支撑架电池组中表面温度分别降低了2.64%和1.86%;在高流速状态下,空气和水分别作为冷却工质时,纵向包裹型电池支撑架比横向包裹型电池支撑架电池组中表面温度分别降低了3.15%和1.83%。动力电池支撑架结构设计可为后续电池热控制提供理论参考。     

车用锂离子电池液冷式热管理系统实验研究

锂离子电池组的热管理对电动汽车的性能和安全性具有重要意义。基于多通道蛇形波纹管液冷式热管理系统,以200个18650型锂离子电池组为热管理对象,对电池在各种充放电倍率下所需的冷却液流量、泵功消耗以及热管理收益进行了实验研究。结果表明,热管理系统对动力电池在各种充放电应用条件下都具有较好的热管理效果,电池最大温度和最大温差基本可控制在40℃以下和5℃以内。提高冷却水流速对系统热管理能力的提升具有一定的效果,但是随着流速增大,热管理能力提升的边际效益也更趋明显;而系统运行所消耗的泵功增加导致了热管理收益随冷却水流速增加而大幅降低。从电池的性能安全以及热管理有效性的角度综合考虑,各充放电倍率下热管理系统的冷却水流速都是以保证电池安全和性能指标的最低流速为优。     

Numerical modeling and experimental investigation of a prismatic battery subjected to water cooling

In this paper, a numerical model using ANSYS Fluent for a minichannel cold plate is developed for water-cooled LiFePO₄ battery. The temperature and velocity distributions are investigated using experimental and computational approach at different C-rates and boundary conditions (BCs). In this regard, a battery thermal management system (BTMS) with water cooling is designed and developed for a pouch-type LiFePO₄ battery using dual cold plates placed one on top and the other at the bottom of a battery. For these tasks, the battery is discharged at high discharge rates of 3C (60?A) and 4C (80?A) and with various BCs of 5°C, 15°C, and 25°C with water cooling in order to provide quantitative data regarding the thermal behavior of lithium-ion batteries. Computationally, a high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was also developed for a minichannel cold plate, and the simulated data are then validated with the experimental data for temperature profiles. The present results show that increased discharge rates (between 3C and 4C) and increased operating temperature or bath temperature (between 5°C, 15°C, and 25°C) result in increased temperature at cold plates as experimentally measured. Furthermore, the sensors nearest the electrodes (anode and cathode) measured the higher temperatures than the sensors located at the center of the battery surface.     

Thermal management of lithium-ion batteries using phase change materials

良好的热管理系统是电池安全及高效使用的保证,电池的热管理需要确保电池温度在安全温度范围以及电池组内最大温差不超过5 ℃.传统的热管理方式,如空气冷却,不仅需要额外的动力输入,而且越来越不能满足高能量密度的新型锂离子电池的热管理需要.使用相变材料的电池热管理系统,利用相变材料的相变潜热吸收电池产生的热量,在不使用外界功耗的条件下,可以长时间保持电池的温度在适宜的范围内.通过与膨胀石墨,金属泡沫复合,相变材料的热导率可以大大提高,电池组内体系温度均匀性可以满足工作要求.而且,相变材料的形状不固定,可以使用在任意形状的电池上.被动式热管理是应用于电池热管理系统中最具前景的技术.     

流动风阻网格模型与热仿真设计方法优化动力电池模组结构的研究

风冷系统因结构简单、成本低等特点,在热管理系统中占据重要地位。目前常规的风冷热管理设计方法存在重复性工作多、设计时间长的缺点。本文提出空气流动风阻网格模型结合热力学模型仿真的设计方法,先采用空气流动风阻网格模型获得优化的电池结构,再采用热力学模型进行仿真求解,获得优化的电池模组的流场和温度场分布特性。仿真结果验证了优化结构的准确性。优化结果表明,“C”字形结构更有利于提升模组内单体电池冷却效果的一致性,并且优化后的“C”字形结构进一步提升了电池模组内单体电池温度场的一致性。此外,计算结果发现模组内空气流动方向为上进下出时可进一步降低模组内单体电池的最高温度,提升单体电池温度场的一致性。