Development and Analysis of a Modified H-Type Air-Cooled Battery Thermal Management System

Abstract

Thermal management of lithium-ion batteries is an important design consideration for electric vehicles (EVs) as it affects the performance and life of the batteries. Given the thermal vulnerability of lithium-ion batteries when subjected to high charging and discharging rates, effective cooling designs for battery packs are necessary. The current work proposes a cooling design with better heat dissipation and maximum temperature difference (ΔTmax). The design improves the reference H-type battery thermal management system (BTMS). In this system, an open triangular pitch is formed at the top of the cell enclosure, and the bottom part of the cell enclosure is tapered from both sides and toward the center. The effect of taper height, pitch height, pitch opening dimensions, cooling channel spacing, inlet air velocity, ambient temperature, and discharge rate on the system's performance was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The experiment was conducted based on the proposed design, and the results were used to verify the numerical model. The results are discussed using the flow streamlines, velocity contours, temperature contours, cooling channel velocity plots, and temperature plots. The results show that the maximum Tavg and the ΔTmax of the battery pack were reduced by 1.34 °C (3.6%) and 1.58 °C (93.5%), respectively, compared to the reference H type.