Electro-Thermal Analysis of a Pouch–Type Lithium–Ion Battery with a High Discharge Rate for Urban Air Mobility

Abstract

The dynamic behavior and thermal performance of a high-power, high-energy-density lithium-ion battery for urban air mobility (UAM) applications were analyzed by using an electro-thermal model. To simulate the behavior of pouch-type nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) lithium–ion batteries, a battery equivalent circuit with a second order of resistance–capacitance (RC) elements was employed. The values of the RC models were determined by using curve fitting based on experimental data for the lithium-ion battery. A three–dimensional model of the lithium-ion battery was created, and a thermal analysis was performed while considering the external temperature and flight time under a 20 min load condition. At an external temperature of 20 °C, the heat generation increased proportionally to the square of the current as the C–rate increased. For 3C, the reaction heat source was 45.5 W, and the average internal temperature of the cell was 36 °C. Even at the same 3C, as the external temperature decreased to 0 °C, the increase in internal resistance led to a greater reaction heat source of 58.27 W, which was 36.9% higher than that at 20 °C. At 5C, the maximum operating time was 685.6 s. At this point, the average internal temperature of the cell was 59.8 °C, which allowed for normal operation. When the C–rate of the battery cell reached 8, which was the momentary maximum high-discharge condition, the temperature sharply rose before the state of charge (SoC) reached 0. With an average internal cell temperature of 80 °C, the maximum operating time became 111.9 s. This met the design requirements for urban air mobility (UAM) in this study.