Impact of configuration on the performance of a hybrid thermal management system including phase change material and water-cooling channels for Li-ion batteries

Abstract

Lithium batteries employed in the powertrain of electric vehicles provide optimal performance within a favorable temperature interval. Using a hybrid thermal management system can be an advanced method for reliable control of battery temperature with the least energy consumption. However, only a few efforts are paid for developing these types of thermal management systems. In the present study, the role of system configuration on the cooling performance of a hybrid thermal management system consisting of phase change material and water-cooling channels is studied, for the first time. Four thermal management systems with four different configurations of parallel, series-1, series-2, and parallel/series are simulated and analyzed. The time evolution of maximum temperature and the temperature difference on the surface of the cells, as well as the liquid fraction of phase change material, are presented. The results show that the parallel/series configuration provides the best performance for the long period operation of the cells with a high heat dissipation rate that results in a lower maximum temperature and a smaller range of temperature variation across the interface of cell and thermal management system during operation, compared to the other configurations. However, for the short period operation of the cells, the series-2 configuration provides better performance. The results also show that the smallest (3.21 Pa) and the largest pressure loss (7.79 Pa) belong to the parallel and series-2 configurations, respectively.