Simulation research on thermal management system of battery module with fin heat dissipation structure

Abstract

The LiFePO4 battery module will generate a lot of heat in its working process. A method of combination air-cooling and liquid cooling can dissipate this heat, so that to keep optimal operating temperature range for battery module. However, designing a combination that can maximize the heat dissipation effect remains a challenging task due to the involvement of numerous parameters. Finally, an optimal solution is proposed based on the orthogonal optimization design approach, including the fin length, coolant mass flow rates, coolant temperature. The simulation results indicate that the average temperature difference of the cell was reduced by 14.03 % and the temperature difference of the cooling channel was reduced by 46.41 %. Besides, the cell temperature was further controlled by optimizing the air-cooling conditions. The results showed that when the air-cooling maintained the average temperature difference of the cell less than 5 °C, then the temperature difference of the cooling channel was only 1.084 °C. This scheme provides a reference for the optimization of large-capacity battery module temperature.