Experimental and Numerical Investigation for Optimization of a Hybrid Battery Thermal Management System Based on Phase Change Material and Air Convection

Abstract

This work presents the design and optimization of a phase change material (PCM)-based hybrid battery thermal management system (HBTMS). In the first stage, experiments are performed to measure the battery cell temperatures under various charge rates with and without the usage of PCM. Thereafter, a numerical model is developed to conduct a parametric study on the effect of the thickness of PCM layer around the battery cell. The results show that with the PCM thicknesses of 6–12 mm, the maximum cell temperature (36.35 °C) and thermal nonuniformity are within the safe range. In the second stage, a parametric study is conducted in the 6S1P battery module to optimize the spacing between the cells at constant inlet velocity. The result shows that an increase in cell spacing decreases the maximum temperature within the cells. The maximum temperature is within the optimal range when the cell spacing is 10 mm. At the constant cell spacing of 10 mm, an increase in inlet velocities from 0.25 m/s to 2.5 m/s gradually improves the thermal uniformity. The maximum temperature and thermal nonuniformity for the 6S1P battery module are found to be 42.07 °C and 1.17 °C respectively. In the third stage, the 6S1P battery module is optimized for PCM thickness, cell spacing, and inlet air velocity. It is found that effective thermal management is possible with PCM-based HBTMS at a low airflow rate of up to 1.5 m/s. The optimized PCM-based HBTMS shows 53.95% and 40% reductions in PCM mass and air flowrate, respectively.