Experimental research on pipeless power battery cooling system using shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCM) coupled with seawater

Abstract

With the implementation of zero carbon strategy, electric ships based on lithium-ion power batteries have become development mainstream. Compared with vehicle power batteries, the heat generated by the larger size of ship power batteries is more difficult to be discharged. Therefore, efficient ship power battery thermal management (BTM) systems are urgently needed. Herein, a pipeless cooling system based on shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCM) as the seawater channel was proposed and experimentally studied. Firstly, the excellent seawater corrosion resistance of SSPCM channel was proven. Then, the cooling performance of SSPCM channel was compared with the metal channel and SSPCM coupled with metal channel. The results demonstrated that the maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference of the SSPCM channel system were 8.3 °C lower and 1.1 °C lower, respectively than the metal channel system. Although the cooling performance of SSPCM and SSPCM coupled with metal channel was similar, SSPCM had a lighter weight and avoided seawater corrosion. Furthermore, the effects of different factors on the SSPCM channel system were investigated and the key factors were identified by orthogonal experiment. The innovative use of SSPCM channel and seawater provides a new idea for the cooling of the ship power batteries.