Active Thermal Management System Research Articles

Electro-thermal characterization of Lithium Iron Phosphate cell with equivalent circuit modeling

Prediction of the battery performance is important in the development of the electric vehicles battery pack. A battery model that is capable to reproduce I–V characteristic, thermal response and predicting the state of charge of the battery will benefit the development of cell and reduce time to market for electric vehicles. In this work, an equivalent circuit model coupled with the thermal model is used to analyze the electrical and thermal behavior of Lithium Iron Phosphate pouch cell under various operating conditions. The battery model is comprised three RC blocks, one series resistor and one voltage source. The parameters of the battery model are extracted from pulse discharge curve under different temperatures. The simulations results of the battery model under constant current discharge and pulse charge and discharge show a good agreement with experimental data. The validated battery model is then extended to investigate the dynamic behavior of the electric vehicle battery pack using UDDS and US06 test cycle. The simulation results show that an active thermal management system is required to prolong the calendar life and ensure safety of the battery pack.

Systems optimisation of an active thermal management system during engine warm-up

Active thermal management systems offer a potential for small improvements in fuel consumption that will contribute to upcoming legislation on carbon dioxide emissions. These systems offer new degrees of freedom for engine calibration; however, their full potential will only be exploited if a systems approach to their calibration is adopted, in conjunction with other engine controls. In this work, a design-of-experiments approach is extended to allow its application to transient drive cycles performed on a dynamic test stand. Experimental precision is of crucial importance in this technique since even small errors would obscure the effects of interest. The dynamic behaviour of the engine was represented mathematically in a manner that enabled conventional steady state modelling approaches to be employed in order to predict the thermal state of critical parts of the engine as a function of the actuator settings. A 17-point test matrix was undertaken, and subsequent modelling and optimisation procedures indicated potential 2–3% fuel consumption benefits under iso-nitrogen oxide conditions. Reductions in the thermal inertia appeared to be the most effective approach for reducing the engine warm-up time, which translated approximately to a 1.3% reduction in the fuel consumption per kilogram of coolant. A novel oil-cooled exhaust gas recirculation system showed the significant benefits of cooling the exhaust gases, thereby reducing the inlet gas temperature by 5 °C and subsequently the nitrogen oxide emissions by 6%, in addition to increasing the warm-up rate of the oil. This suggested that optimising the thermal management system for cooling the gases in the exhaust gas recirculation system can offer significant improvements. For the first time this paper presents a technique that allows simple predictive models of the thermal state of the engine to be integrated into the calibration process in order to deliver the optimum benefit. In particular, it is shown how the effect of the thermal management system on the nitrogen oxides can be traded off, by advancing the injection timing, to give significant improvements in the fuel consumption.

Thermal modeling and cooling analysis of high-power lithium ion cells

The heat generation model and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model for lithium ion cells were established with boundary conditions defined. In order to provide a better insight about the behaviors of high-power lithium ion cells under realistic discharge conditions, the temperature difference of the cells and an active thermal management system with a pure air-cooling mode were analyzed and predicted with the factors affecting the unevenness of temperature field discussed. The results show a significant effect of the cooling flow rate on the temperature rise of the cells for all discharge rates. Average surface temperatures are relatively uniform at lower discharge rate that makes it easier to control the temperature of the pack. Cell temperatures are expected to rise significantly toward the end of discharge and they show non-uniformity at higher discharge rates. Adequate air flow rate of active cooling is required at high discharge rate and high ambient temperature for practical pack thermal management system.

Microelectromechanical Devices for Satellite Thermal Control

Future space missions will include constellations of spacecraft, including nano- and picosatellites, where adaptive thermal control systems will be needed that fit the constraints of space applications with limited power and mass budgets. A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) solution has been developed that will vary the emissivity on the surface of the small satellite radiator. The system is based on louver thermal controllers, where panels are mechanically positioned to modulate the effective radiator surface area. This system consists of MEMS arrays of gold-coated sliding shutters, fabricated with the Sandia ultraplanar, multilevel MEMS technology fabrication process, which utilizes multilayer polycrystalline silicon surface micromachining. The shutters can be operated independently to allow digital control of the effective emissivity. This first demonstrator technology is limited in the possible emittance range to a 40% change. Early prototypes of MEMS louvers that open away from the structure have shown the capability of a much wider dynamic range. The first generation of this active thermal management system will be demonstrated on NASA's New Millennium Program ST-5 spacecraft. With the opportunity to validate the MEMS thermal control technology in space on ST-5, lightweight, low-power MEMS radiators offer a possibility for flexible thermal control on future nanosatellites.