Thermal management of cylindrical lithium-ion battery based on a liquid cooling method with half-helical duct

Abstract

To maintain the maximum temperature within the optimum range and to improve the temperature uniformity of cylindrical lithium-ion battery, a liquid cooling method based on the half-helical duct was proposed. The effects of inlet mass flow rate, pitch and number of helical duct, fluid flow direction and diameter of helical duct on the thermal performance of battery at 5 C discharge rate were analyzed numerically. The results showed that the maximum temperature and temperature difference decreased with an increase in the inlet mass flow rate. When the pitch and the number of helical duct changed at the optimal inlet mass flow rate of 3 × 10−4 kg/s, there was no obvious improvement in the cooling performance. If the flow direction was varied according to six kinds of cases, the maximum temperature and the temperature difference for the Case4 all displayed the lowest values. If the diameter of half-helical duct varied from 2.0 mm to 3.8 mm, the temperature difference would retain within 4.3 °C, but the maximum temperature would approach to 30.9 °C, slightly higher than 30.5 °C. In comparison to the thermal management with jacket liquid cooling method, the thermal management with half-helical duct liquid cooling method might be better and more effective owing to the low fluid volume and no stagnant zone.