Battery thermal management system based on PCM with addition of nanoparticles

Abstract

India, a country of over 295 million vehicles, witnessed an exponential rise in the number of electric vehicles mainly cars and bikes running on the Indian roads. As per the report by consulting firm RBSA Advisors, India’s electric vehicle (EV) market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90 percent in this decade. For the development and success of the EV, the battery is the key component. But the fundamental problem with the battery is thermal management. As the temperature of the battery rises, performance and life degrade. This is main reason electric vehicle requires battery thermal management system (BTMS). Different methods can be used for employing the BTMS like air, liquid, thermoelectric module and phase change material (PCM). Considering the Indian market PCM would be the cost-effective solution for the battery problem. In this paper, with the help of graphene nanoparticles thermal conductivity of paraffin increased and is used for the thermal management of the 12 cylindrical 18,650li-ion cells. A 3D model is created with the help of the SOLIDWORKS software. Then the model is imported into ANSYS for thermal simulation. A thermal simulation is performed at the different C rates like 1C, 2C, and 3C and for varying thicknesses like 1 mm, 3 mm, 5 mm, 7, mm and 9 mm of PCM material around the periphery of the cells. The model is validated with the experimental results. As the thickness of matrix PCM material around periphery of the 18,650li-ion cell increases, temperature drops within the battery pack but at the same time the weight of battery pack increases. So to get the optimum conditions for the battery pack we have to trade-off between maximum battery temperature and weight of the battery pack.