Investigation of Thermal Behavior of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicle

Abstract

With growing concerns over climate change due to automotive emissions, fossil fuel depletion, and the increasing price of crude oil, electric vehicles have gained more interest as a mode of transportation. Various electric vehicles have been developed in recent years, including pure electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). One of the keen focus area in the ongoing development of EVs is their energy storage systems. Mostly lithium-ion batteries are being used as an energy storage system in EVs. Various complicated reaction occurs during charging/discharging of batteries and the thermal behavior of the batteries are coupled to these reactions. Electrochemical reactions affect the heat generation rate, and higher temperatures further increase the speed of the electrochemical reactions. Adverse operating temperatures can impact battery performance, degradation, and safety. Hence it is become very important to investigate the thermal behavior of the lithium-ion batteries. Thermal investigation of cylindrical lithium-ion batteries of different chemistry and shape factor is conducted for different charging/discharging rate and atmospheric conditions using numerical technique. The numerical technique includes the determination of surface temperature of battery by solving the energy balance equation using suitable numerical method. The accuracy of numerical techniques is validated using the experimental techniques. Thermal investigation conducted in this research can help in deciding the operating strategies of battery management system and further in designing the proper thermal management system.