Effects of intermittent pulsating flow on the performance of multi-channel cold plate in electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack

Abstract

In order to address the thermal management of electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack, the intermittent pulsating flow is proposed to apply in the multi-channel cold plate of electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack. Extensive numerical investigations on the maximum temperature (Tb,max) and maximum temperature difference (ΔTb,max) and of the lithium-ion battery pack, transfer coefficient (h), pressure loss (Δp), efficiency index (EI), pump power (Ppump), and energy consumption (W) of the multi-channel cold plate under intermittent pulsating flow and pulsating flow are conducted. Results show that Tb,max and ΔTb,max under intermittent pulsating flow is lower than those under pulsating flow at the first half of the whole discharging process, which suggests that the intermittent pulsating flow can make the lithium-ion battery pack achieve better temperature characteristics. However, W of cold plate under intermittent pulsating flow is much higher than that under pulsating flow at the same pulsation amplitude and frequency. It is always increased at the fixed pulsation frequency with the increase of pulsation amplitude and reaches the minimum value at the pulsation frequency of 3 Hz when the pulsation amplitude is fixed.