The Battery Thermal Management System Based on Animal Fat as Phase Change Material and Heat Pipe for Electric Vehicles Application

Abstract

The battery utilization in electric vehicles needs to be operated at its operating temperature range of $20-45^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$ to hinder several issues, including a reduction of life capacity and thermal runaway. A battery thermal management system (BTMS) is based on a phase change material (PCM) and the heat pipe is harnessed to maintain the battery temperature. In this research, the BTMS by harnessing animal fat as the PCM and a heat pipe was investigated through experimental methods. Characterization material with the T-history method and thermal performance testing with three different loads of 0,5 C, 1C, and 2 C were conducted. The Findings showed that the proposed module batteries could be applied as the BTMS in electric vehicles due to their thermal properties, which had a melting temperature of 37,18°C and latent heat of 72,71°C. The proposed BTMS could reduce the temperature by 14, 7°C at the highest load of 2 C discharge rate from three discharge loads. Moreover, the temperature differences among batteries can be retained below 5°C. In conclusion, the proposed BTMS in this research has shown the ability to harness natural resources to reduce the battery temperature in electric vehicles. Thus, this can be a promising BTMS in the future.