A new design for hybrid cooling of Li-ion battery pack utilizing PCM and mini channel cold plates

Abstract

• Two BTMSs (MCP, HMCP) are studied under constant and pulsed heat generation rates. • The optimal configuration decreased up to 30 K the maximum battery temperature. • Cold plates with shorter mini channels have better performance in BTMS. • Temperature uniformity is improved in hybrid cooling system (HMCP). • HMCP has superior performance over MCP in constant heat generation. By the growing applications of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, the need to develop highly efficient and improved battery cooling systems has become significantly important. In this paper, a novel battery thermal management system (BTMS) for cooling of battery pack, using phase change materials (PCM) and mini-channel cold plates (MCPs), has been designed and numerically studied. Each battery module includes five prismatic Li-ion battery, sandwiched between cold plates. Also, the effect of battery module orientation on the cooling performance of BTMS has been investigated. A new type of cold plate, named as hybrid mini-channel cold plates (HMCPs) has also been designed by adding PCM (n-eicosane) inside the cold plates. The performances of the two mentioned types of cold plates have been studied and compared under constant and pulsed heat generation. The results showed that the battery orientation significantly affected the BTMS performance. Therefore, it was observed that the maximum temperature in the battery packs was 30 K lower in the optimum orientation. Under the constant heat generation, the temporal average of the maximum battery temperature in hybrid cooling system was decreased by 10.35 K compared to the active cooling. However, under multiple pulsed heat generation, the difference in temporal averages of maximum temperature was less than 1 K between the two cooling systems.