Numerical analysis of pressure drop and heat transfer of a Non-Newtonian nanofluids in a Li-ion battery thermal management system (BTMS) using bionic geometries

It is important for the safety and good performance of a Li-ion battery module/pack to have an efficient thermal management system. In this paper, a battery thermal management system with a two-phase refrigerant circulated by a pump was developed. A battery module consisting of 240 18650-type Li-ion batteries was fabricated based on a finned-tube heat-exchanger structure. This structural design offers the potential to reduce the weight of the battery thermal management system. The cooling performance of the battery module was experimentally studied under different charge/discharge C-rates and with different refrigerant circulation pump operation frequencies. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the cooling system. It was found that the refrigerant-based battery thermal management system could maintain the battery module maximum temperature under 38 °C and the temperature non-uniformity within 2.5 °C for the various operation conditions considered. The experimental results with 0.5 C charging and a US06 drive cycle showed that the thermal management system could reduce the maximum temperature difference in the battery module from an initial value of 4.5 °C to 2.6 °C, and from the initial 1.3 °C to 1.1 °C, respectively. In addition, the variable pump frequency mode was found to be effective at controlling the battery module, functioning at a desirable constant temperature and at the same time minimizing the pump work consumption.

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Hybrid Battery Thermal Management System in Electrical Vehicles: A Review

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13236257 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 6257

Author(s):

Chunyu Zhao ◽

Beile Zhang ◽

Yuanming Zheng ◽

Shunyuan Huang ◽

Tongtong Yan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Management ◽

Management System ◽

Air Cooling ◽

Liquid Cooling ◽

Battery Thermal Management ◽

Thermal Management System ◽

Battery Thermal Management System ◽

Cooling Phase ◽

Li Ion ◽

Forced Air

The Li-ion battery is of paramount importance to electric vehicles (EVs). Propelled by the rapid growth of the EV industry, the performance of the battery is continuously improving. However, Li-ion batteries are susceptible to the working temperature and only obtain the optimal performance within an acceptable temperature range. Therefore, a battery thermal management system (BTMS) is required to ensure EVs’ safe operation. There are various basic methods for BTMS, including forced-air cooling, liquid cooling, phase change material (PCM), heat pipe (HP), thermoelectric cooling (TEC), etc. Every method has its unique application condition and characteristic. Furthermore, based on basic BTMS, more hybrid cooling methods adopting different basic methods are being designed to meet EVs’ requirements. In this work, the hybrid BTMS, as a more reliable and environmentally friendly method for the EVs, will be compared with basic BTMS to reveal its advantages and potential. By analyzing its cost, efficiency and other aspects, the evaluation criterion and design suggestions are put forward to guide the future development of BTMS.

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Induction Heater Based Battery Thermal Management System for Electric Vehicles

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13215711 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 5711

Author(s):

Waseem Raza ◽

Gwang Soo Ko ◽

Youn Cheol Park

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Thermal Management ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Management System ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

Cold Climate ◽

Induction Heater ◽

Battery Thermal Management ◽

Thermal Management System ◽

Battery Thermal Management System

The life and efficiency of electric vehicle batteries are susceptible to temperature. The impact of cold climate dramatically decreases battery life, while at the same time increasing internal impedance. Thus, a battery thermal management system (BTMS) is vital to heat and maintain temperature range if the electric vehicle’s batteries are operating in a cold climate. This paper presents an induction heater-based battery thermal management system that aims to ensure thermal safety and prolong the life cycle of Lithium-ion batteries (Li-Bs). This study used a standard simulation tool known as GT-Suite to simulate the behavior of the proposed BTMS. For the heat transfer, an indirect liquid heating method with variations in flow rate was considered between Lithium-ion batteries. The battery and cabin heating rate was analyzed using the induction heater powers of 2, 4, and 6 kW at ambient temperatures of −20, −10, and 0 °C. A water and ethylene glycol mixture with a ratio of 50:50 was considered as an operating fluid. The findings reveal that the thermal performance of the proposed system is generally increased by increasing the flow rate and affected by the induction heater capacity. It is evident that at −20 °C with 27 LPM and 6 kW heater capacity, the maximum heat transfer rate is 0.0661 °C/s, whereas the lowest is 0.0295 °C/s with 2 kW heater capacity. Furthermore, the proposed BTMS could be a practical approach and help to design the thermal system for electric vehicles in the future.

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Battery Thermal Management System Design: Role of Influence of Nanofluids, Flow Directions, and Channels

Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage ◽

10.1115/1.4045325 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Sanjay Srinivaas ◽

Wei Li ◽

Akhil Garg ◽

Xiongbin Peng ◽

Liang Gao

Keyword(s):

Pressure Drop ◽

Thermal Management ◽

Temperature Rise ◽

Management System ◽

Battery Pack ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Temperature Deviation ◽

Battery Thermal Management ◽

Thermal Management System ◽

Battery Thermal Management System

Abstract Lithium-ion batteries are currently being produced and used in large quantities in the automobile sector as a clean alternative to fossil fuels. The thermal behavior of the battery pack is a very important criterion, which is not only essential for safety but also has an equally important role in the capacity and life cycle of the batteries. The liquid battery thermal management system is a very efficient type of thermal management system, and mini-channel-based liquid cooling systems are one of the most popular type of the battery thermal management system and have been researched extensively. This paper mainly intends to study the effects of tapering, the addition of grooves to the channel, the use of different nanofluids, and the flow direction of coolant on the thermal performance of the battery pack using a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model. The results suggest that converging channels can be used to control the temperature rise, while diverging channels can be used to control the temperature deviation. The addition of grooves and the use of nanofluids were beneficial in reducing the temperature rise. The final setups were able to reduce the maximum temperature rise by 2.267 K with a substantial pressure drop increase and by 1.513 K with an increase in pressure drop of only 19.92%.

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Optimization for Liquid Cooling Cylindrical Battery Thermal Management System Based on Gaussian Process Model

Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications ◽

10.1115/1.4047526 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Wei Li ◽

Akhil Garg ◽

Mi Xiao ◽

Liang Gao

Keyword(s):

Pressure Drop ◽

Gaussian Process ◽

Thermal Management ◽

Management System ◽

Process Model ◽

Liquid Cooling ◽

Battery Thermal Management ◽

Thermal Management System ◽

Battery Thermal Management System ◽

Gp Model

Abstract The power of electric vehicles (EVs) comes from lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). LIBs are sensitive to temperature. Too high and too low temperatures will affect the performance and safety of EVs. Therefore, a stable and efficient battery thermal management system (BTMS) is essential for an EV. This article has conducted a comprehensive study on liquid-cooled BTMS. Two cooling schemes are designed: the serpentine channel and the U-shaped channel. The results show that the cooling effect of two schemes is roughly the same, but the U-shaped channel can significantly decrease the pressure drop (PD) loss. The U-shaped channel is parameterized and modeled. A machine learning method called the Gaussian process (GP) model has been used to express the outputs such as temperature difference, temperature standard deviation, and pressure drop. A multi-objective optimization model is established using GP models, and the NSGA-II method is employed to drive the optimization process. The optimized scheme is compared with the initial design. The main findings are summarized as follows: the velocity of cooling water v decreases from 0.3 m/s to 0.22 m/s by 26.67%. Pressure drop decreases from 431.40 Pa to 327.11 Pa by 24.18%. The optimized solution has a significant reduction in pressure drop and helps to reduce parasitic power. The proposed method can provide a useful guideline for the liquid cooling design of large-scale battery packs.

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