Thermal characteristics of battery module with trapezoidal structure

Abstract

Two types of novel trapezoidal battery modules with taper angles of 60° and 90° are proposed. Flow and heat transfer characteristics of the battery modules are investigated numerically and compared with rectangular battery module. Results show that acceleration of fluid, cell arrangement, and gap spacing are three main factors influencing the velocity and temperature distribution in trapezoidal battery modules. Combination of water cooling and trapezoidal battery module with taper angle of 60° is an optimal choice, and the maximum cell temperature difference can be decreased as high as 27% as compared to that of traditional rectangular battery module.