Enhancement of battery thermal management system using a novel structure of hybrid liquid cold plate

Abstract

Battery thermal management system (BTMS) is a crucial component of electric vehicles (EVs) as it ensures optimal operating temperature of battery cells, which is critical for battery safety and performance. Among various cooling methods, liquid cooling is the most reliable owing to its high heat transfer coefficient and low power consumption. In this study, a liquid cold plate (LCP) suitable for different ambient conditions was developed, with optimized power consumption and without pre-cooling the coolant. We investigated six different microchannels, including straight, wavy walls, and metal foam-embedded microchannels, in three different ambient conditions (20 °C, 25 °C, and 35 °C) at various coolant mass flow rates (ranging from 2.5 to 17 kg/s). Our results showed that the wavy walls microchannel reduced the maximum temperature by 4–6 °C, depending on the wave amplitude. Additionally, using fully embedded metal foam microchannels resulted in a 14 °C decrease in the maximum temperature compared to that of straight microchannels, while the temperature difference of the battery module remained within an acceptable range. We also found that a thick layer of metal foam in the vicinity of the microchannel walls decreased the battery module temperature by up to 4 °C while reducing the pumping power, especially at low coolant flow rates. Deploying the wavy microchannel reduced the pumping power between 50 and 73%, while a thin layer of metal foam caused a 50% decrease in pumping power.