PCM/metal foam and microchannels hybrid thermal management system for cooling of Li-ion battery

Abstract

Temperature rising in Lithium-ion batteries is an inevitable phenomenon that can cause several issues in electric vehicles (EVs). Battery thermal management system (BTMS) has the role of controlling maximum temperature (Tmax) of batteries as well as temperature difference (∆T) during charge/discharge process. Many kinds of BTMS have been proposed including passive, active and hybrid cooling systems to maintain the Tmax and ∆T in the acceptable ranges. In this work, a hybrid cooling system consisting of microchannels and phase change materials (PCM) which enhanced by metal foam is proposed and its performance compared with active and passive cooling methods. Results revealed that using merely passive BTMS (i.e. PCM/metal foam) has better temperature distribution and lower temperature difference (∼1 K) but it experiences higher Tmax (∼319 K). On the other hand, active BTMS (i.e. microchannels) experiences lower Tmax (∼312 K) but leads to higher ∆T (∼9 K). By using the hybrid system (i.e. PCM/metal foam and microchannels), both maximum temperature and temperature difference are in acceptable ranges. In this case, the maximum temperature rises to 308.4 K and the temperature difference is about 3.4 K.