Heat transfer improvement of prismatic lithium-ion batteries via a mini-channel liquid-cooling plate with vortex generators

Temperature is a critical factor affecting the performance and safety of battery packs of electric vehicles (EVs). The design of liquid cooling plates based on mini-channels has always been the research hotspots of battery thermal management systems (BTMS). This paper investigates the effect of adding vortex generators (VGs) to the liquid cooling channel on the heat dissipation capacity and temperature uniformity of the battery. The shape of the vortex generators (triangle, trapezoid, and semicircle), placement position (middle, inlet, and outlet of the channel), different flow rates, and different number of channels on the heat dissipation of the battery are systematically analysed. The research results indicate that: (1) The semi-circular vortex generator has better heat dissipation and a relatively lower impact on pressure drop than the triangular and trapezoidal vortex generators (2) The effect of adding vortex generators is more obvious when the flow rate is small in the cooling channels. When the flow velocity is 0.025 m/s, the heat dissipation performance can be increased by 7.4%. (3) When the cross-sectional area of the inlet is fixed, the heat dissipation effect of more channels is better. The average temperature of three and seven cooling channels decreases with a decrease of 8.87%. (4) The temperature difference can be effectively reduced when the vortex generators are concentrated near the outlet of the flow outlet. Its temperature difference is lower than that when the vortex generators are placed near the inlet, with a decrease of 10.5%.