Experimental and parametric analysis of a novel hybrid thermal management strategy for cylindrical lithium-ion cells

Abstract

This paper reports on a novel hybrid thermal management strategy. It uses secondary coolants (air and liquid) to withdraw heat simultaneously from the composite phase change material, resulting in increased heat extraction capability of the composite phase change material and improved thermal environment of the battery module. The significance of this strategy is that the fluid used in the liquid cooling stays stationary. Comprehensive experimental and numerical studies are performed, and parametric studies are conducted to reduce the volume of the phase change material, size of the air duct, and airflow Reynolds number. The numerical results showed that the maximum temperature was limited to 27.8°C, and a high-temperature uniformity of 0.4°C was obtained. Furthermore, the required volume of the composite phase change material is reduced by ~50%. Additionally, beyond a 6 mm height of the air duct, the reduction in maximum pressure drop is not significant enough, and it is considered the optimal height, and a Reynolds number of 1950 is considered the optimal airflow Reynolds number. Therefore, the proposed thermal management concept for the battery module can sustain the thermal environment needed for the effective operation of Lithium-ion batteries.