Investigation of thermal management of lithium-ion battery based on micro heat pipe array

Abstract

Deterioration of charge and discharge performance of vehicle-mounted power lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in low-temperature environments and low heat dissipation in high temperature affects the application of electric vehicles in cold areas. Therefore, low-temperature thermal management system (TMS) of lithium batteries is particularly important. A Li-ion battery heating method based on micro heat pipe array (MHPA) is proposed in this study. A three-dimensional model is established using COMSOL Multiphysics software to analyze temperature distribution inside the battery during low-temperature heating. Results suggested that a single heating system based on MHPA can heat battery packs from −30°C to 0°C within 20 minutes and the temperature distribution in the battery pack is uniform, with a maximum temperature difference of less than 3.03°C. In addition, the interaction between heat dissipation and heating modules in the lithium battery pack of the integrated TMS based on MHPA is analyzed. Simulation results showed that heat dissipation components will negatively affect the temperature rise at low temperatures and heating components will enhance the high-temperature heat dissipation effect of the battery pack. The research results will be useful in the design of MHPA applied to the TMS of Li-ion battery packs.