The feasibility of using magnetic refrigeration cycles in the thermal management of rechargeable batteries in electric cars

Abstract

This is the first study that intends to check the feasibility of using a magnetic refrigerator (MR) in the thermal management of rechargeable batteries instead of other conventional passive/active cooling techniques. A mathematical model has been generated to study the cooling performance of the proposed system at different conditions, including synchronized and asynchronized cooling at different discharge rates and ambient temperatures, in addition to exploring the effect of using water-based copper (Cu) nanofluid as a heat transfer fluid in a spherical packed bed active magnetic regenerator on the cooling performance. The proposed system can maintain the maximum temperature of the battery pack to less than 35 °C with high coefficients of performance (COPs) [between 4.8 and 9.7] during synchronized and asynchronized cooling at an ambient temperature of 25 °C and different discharge rates. The system can operate with COP higher than 1 at an ambient temperature up to 40 °C during 0.5 discharge rate, and up to 38 °C ambient temperature during 1 discharge rate. The MR can work with COP of 5.3 compared to 3.82 for vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS) if the two systems meet a 3-kW cooling load. The study reveals that MR outperforms many active cooling techniques especially when appropriately integrated with the thermal management of the vehicle cabin.