Electrochemical and Thermal Analysis of Lithium-Ion Battery Pack With Different Cell Configurations

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research is to analyze and evaluate the effects of various discharge rates and cell configurations on the electrochemical and thermal behavior of a Li-ion battery pack that is exposed to ambient air throughout the discharge process. The three-dimensional numerical model is designed to accomplish this purpose and discusses two different cases. While the discharge rate is changed from 0.5 C to 2 C (stepping by 0.5 C) for each cell configuration considered in the first case, the numerical solutions are obtained for the various cell configurations (6S4P and 8S3P) by keeping the discharge rate constant at 1 C. The results obtained from these solutions show that the discharge rate affects a considerable amount of the battery performances and discharge times of the battery packs, activation, and ohmic losses occurring inside each battery cell. Moreover, 6S4P discharges over a longer period (about 25%) than 8S3P. While both activation and ohmic losses decrease with the increase of discharge rate, these losses remain almost constant at 0.5 C discharge rate in all analyzed conditions. As a result, having a battery pack with a long discharge time while maintaining low temperatures is useful and desired. With this in mind, while evaluating battery packs, the 6S4P battery pack looks to have the best arrangement.