An energy-efficient battery thermal management system incorporating a porous metal-based multiscale flow manifold

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Development of an effective battery thermal management system (BTMS) is crucial for increasing the lifetime of electrochemical batteries and their reliable operation for various energy systems such as electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESSs). Liquid cooling can be a promising thermal management strategy for high energy density batteries due to its high heat transfer coefficient. However, conventional liquid cooling modules for large-scale battery packages require a high pumping power due to a long and serpentine flow path. They also induce a high-temperature deviation of battery cells since the coolant temperature gradually increases from inlet to outlet. Here, we introduce an energy-efficient liquid cooling module incorporating manifold flow distributors connected to a porous metal layer. The thermohydraulic performances of BTMS are investigated using both numerical and experimental platforms for the battery package composed of 24 pouch-type cells. The total energy capacity and heat generation of the package are determined to be ∼6.9 kWh and 504 W, respectively. The cooling module is designed to minimize the vortex generation within the cooling path, maximizing heat exchange area, and minimizing heat spreading resistance. The developed liquid cooling module shows ∼12.9 % higher temperature uniformity and 7.4 % lower maximum cell temperature compared to the straight channel-based module utilizing the same flow rate. The proposed liquid cooling strategy provides ∼43.3 °C of the maximum cell temperature with below 2 °C of temperature deviation by consuming only 3 L/min, which is ∼4.2 times lower flow rate compared to that of previously reported straight channel-based BTMS. This work will help develop energy-efficient electrochemical battery-based energy systems including EVs and ESSs.