Optimization of Airflow Channel with Metal Foam for Battery Thermal Management System

The metal foam is set in the cooling channel where the batteries release heat to air flow. The convection which happens in metal foam is added into the heat transfer. Bernardi model and local thermal equilibrium (LTE) model are employed to describe the heat generation of battery and the thermal transport in metal foam. The effect of channel fill ratio, porosity, inlet velocity, power consumption and the arrangement of exports are numerically analyzed. Decreasing the channel fill ratio and increasing the porosity will reduce the maximum average temperature and increase the temperature difference. The 3.58% decline ratio of the average temperature in the mode with channel fill ratio of 0.2 happens than that with channel fill ratio of 0.6. The 31.81% decline ratio of the maximum average temperature difference in the mode with channel fill ratio of 0.6 happens than that with channel fill ratio of 0.1. The channel fill ratio and the porosity influence the heat to be transported in the convection with air flow regularly. All results show that the application of metal foam can optimize the battery thermal management system (BTMS)and improve the thermal state of battery.