Thermal management of electric vehicle battery cells with homogeneous coolant and temperature distribution

Abstract

Electric vehicles play an integral role in eliminating pollution related to transportation, especially if the electricity is generated via renewable sources. However, storing electricity onboard requires many battery cells. If the temperature of the cells is not strictly regulated, their capacity decreases in time, and they may burn or explode due to thermal runaway. Battery thermal management systems emerged for safe operations by keeping the battery cell temperatures under limit values. However, the current solutions do not yield uniform temperature distribution for all the cells in a pack. Here, we document that constant temperature distribution can be achieved with uniform coolant distribution to the channels located between batteries. The design process of the developed battery pack begins with a design used in current packs. Later, how the shape of the distributor channel affects flow uniformity is documented. Then, the design complexity was increased to satisfy the flow uniformity condition, which is essential for temperature uniformity. The design was altered based on a constructal design methodology with an iterative exhaustive search approach. The uncovered constructal design yields a uniform coolant distribution with a maximum of 0.81% flow rate deviation along channels. The developed design is palpable and easy to manufacture relative to the tapered manifold designs. The results also document that the peak temperature difference between the cells decreases from a maximum of 12 K to 0.4 K. Furthermore, homogenous distribution of air is one of the limiting factors of the development of metal–air batteries. This paper also documents how air can be distributed uniformly to metal–air battery cells in a battery pack.

Enhanced temperature uniformity with minimized pressure drop in electric vehicle battery packs at elevated C‐rates

“…Figure 5B indicates that model‐II (five‐channel step design) decreases the maximum temperature compared to model‐I (Figure 5A) and improves the temperature uniformity. The step model achieves a temperature drop of around 0.7 K since that design allows a more homogeneous coolant distribution 59 . However, the pressure drop also increases with model‐II.…”

“…The step model achieves a temperature drop of around 0.7 K since that design allows a more homogeneous coolant distribution. 59 However, the pressure drop also increases with model-II. Since model-I has a comparatively nonuniform temperature distribution and model-II has a relatively greater pressure drop, we analyzed the model-III with six-uniform channels.…”

Emergence of elevated battery positioning in air cooled battery packs for temperature uniformity in ultra-fast dis/charging applications

“…Therefore, in this study, Newman, Tiedeman, Gu and Kim (NTGK) semi-empirical electrochemical battery model was incorporated with multi scale multi domain (MSMD) approach in ANSYS Fluent. Current study yields a realistic approach to mimic the behavior of cells under operation to uncover the performance of the manifold design developed in our previous study for forced air convection [43]. The proposed manifold design, the illustration and structural properties of which are given in Fig.…”

“…First, z-type manifold design (Fig. 1(a)) which had been developed in our previous work [43] was simulated by using Newman, Tiedeman, Gu and Kim (NTGK) electrochemical battery model, which provides more realistic results due to its heat generation approach in a battery cell. Electrochemical model was simulated with fluid and heat flow simultaneously in battery pack level.…”

Simulation and Multi-Objective Optimization of the Vehicle Thermal Management System of Electric Cars

“…As electric cars are developing at an astonishing speed, the heat flux density of the engine is increasing, and faults related to the thermal management system are on the rise [1][2][3][4][5]. Studies on the engine cooling system, engine lubrication system, power transmission system, air conditioning system and other subsystems are of great practical significance for ensuring the driving reliability of electric cars [6][7][8][9][10].…”