Design and optimization of a battery thermal management system using phase change material and heat pipe

Abstract

With rapid transition from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs), Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) is becoming a research hotspot. This research presents the design and optimization of a BTMS which uses heat pipe (HP) and phase change material (PCM) to enhance the thermal management performance of battery pack. The goal of this research is to reduce the maximum temperature for battery packs below the upper limit of optimal operating temperature range for Li-ion batteries. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed through Ansys Fluent to simulate BTMS thermal performance with various HP thickness and PCM thickness under 3C discharge rate. This study indicates that by increasing HP and PCM thickness, BTMS thermal performance is improved but the defined design target has not been fully achieved. Considering anisotropic thermal conductivity of battery, this thesis proposes a novel BTMS configuration, applying HPs to thinner surface of battery to dissipate more heat. The newly designed BTMS achieves a lower maximum temperature and temperature gradient, which is 39.82 ℃ and 1.13 ℃. This result fulfills the performance criteria of the system. With additional advantage, new design reduces heat pipe material usage by 24.69%. The findings contribute to developing an efficient, cost-effective thermal management system for EV batteries.