Numerical investigations on phase change material-based battery thermal management system

Abstract

Battery module is the power source of electric vehicle (EV). Temperature field of the module affects its performance and life. Battery thermal management system (BTMS) with phase change material (PCM) ensures temperature uniformity within the module. In this paper, two-dimensional model was developed to simulate the thermal and cyclic performances of different PCMs so as to select the suitable one to act as a medium for controlling the temperature of battery in the BTMS. Octadecane, Eicosane, Docosane, Tetracosane and RT25 are the five different considered and they were exposed different thermal conditions through four case studies. Simulation of the five PCMs were carried out in four different cases with COMSOL Multiphysics software. Docosane takes 4500 s to reach the threshold temperature of 60°C and 8790 s to cool to ambient temperature which is performing fairly good in all the PCMs and it was selected as the PCM in BTMS. Three-dimensional model was developed to simulate the BTMS and simulation was carried out with COMSOL Multiphysics software. The battery module is within the acceptable temperature range while heating with a maximum temperature of 52.1°C. The desired temperature uniformity of the battery was observed from the results. PCM was effectively used in the BTMS with a maximum value of maximum liquid fraction of 0.9 achieved in 9210 s.