Numerical analysis of pressure drop and heat transfer of a Non-Newtonian nanofluids in a Li-ion battery thermal management system (BTMS) using bionic geometries

Abstract

In the total efficiency of the systems employed in these devices, efficient cooling techniques in thermal management of lithium-ion battery (LIB) systems have been extremely significant problems. To decrease the temperature of the battery pack system (BPS) during operation, these cooling methods should be cost-effective and low-consumption. In this study, a plate LIB is investigated. The LIB pack consists of several cells. In this study, paths of the nanofluids (Nfs) are placed on the right and left sides of each cell for the cooling process. Non-Newtonian nanofluid (NN-Nfs) flows in embedded channels modeled using natural bionic systems. In this study, the thermal behavior of the LIB is investigated. For this purpose, the finite element technique and COMSOL software is used to solve the governing equations of the Nfs flow and the LIB. The results show that the addition of nanoparticles (NPs) to the base fluid reduces the thermal resistance of the cooling system and enhances the temperature uniformity at the LIB surface. The increment in fluid velocity has the same effect. Also, enhancing the velocity and volume percentage of NPs reduces the maximum LIB temperature. An increment in the inlet velocity from 0.01 to 0.05 m/s enhances the amount of pumping power by 12.62 and 14.53 times, respectively, for water and nanofluid with the volume fraction of 3%. The maximum enhancement in heat transfer coefficient, which is equal to 14%, occurs by adding 3% NPs at a velocity of 0.01 m/s compared to the pure fluid under the same conditions.