Assessment of newly-designed hybrid nanofluid-cooled micro-channeled thermal management system for Li-ion battery

Abstract

Maintaining both maximum temperature and temperature uniformity within the desirable limit is a crucial issue for high C-rating Li-ion batteries of electric vehicles, which can be achieved by the properly designed battery thermal management system (BTMS). In this research, three new designs of liquid-cooled micro-channeled BTMS are suggested for cylindrical batteries to address the issue of temperature variations and uneven temperature distribution. Using 3D numerical simulation, we investigate the impacts of volume flow rate and the usage of mono/hybrid nanofluids with varying concentrations on the thermal performance of the battery pack at a high C-rate by utilizing a two-phase mixture model. Effects on maximum temperature, temperature uniformity, pumping power and heat transfer coefficient to pressure drop ratio are investigated. Results demonstrate that the effectiveness of heat transmission and temperature uniformity of the battery pack are positively impacted by an increase in nanoparticle concentration in nanofluid and volume flow rate. Even at high C-rates (5C), the proposed design can effectively reduce both cell temperature and thermal gradient of the 21700-type cylindrical cell. Model 3 is the most favorable BTMS for Li-ion cylindrical battery in terms of both maximum temperature and temperature uniformity (maximum temperature of 304.72K and temperature difference of 4.7K).