Effect of Different Inlet/Outlet Port Configurations on the Thermal Management of Prismatic Li-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) based batteries are the first choice to supply uninterrupted long power backup to the electric vehicles due to their high energy density, low self-discharge rate and good stability. However, the performance of Li-ion batteries is governed by the maximum temperature and uniformity of temperature distribution in the battery pack. Therefore, an efficient thermal management system is highly desired to keep the operating temperature and temperature distribution of battery pack within safe operating limits. Current work is carried out for that purpose. In the current work, different configurations of inlet and outlet ports have been studied numerically. It is observed that the way fluid leaves the cooling module significantly influences the flow and temperature distribution uniformity of battery pack. Significant improvement in the fluid flow distribution and consequently, lower temperature fluctuation is maintained by the front outlet configurations as compared to the side outlet configurations. Among all SS designs, only SS-Ib at Vin ≥ 5.6 m/s and SS-IV at Vin ≥ 4.8 m/s are found suitable for the thermal management of Li-ion battery pack at the studied range of flow rate. Whereas all SF designs maintained desired Tmax and ΔTmax conditions at Vin ≥ 4.8 m/s. Furthermore, a new design SF-V with open outlet is studied which results in reduction of Tmax by 5 °C and ΔTmax by 64.5% as compared to base design (SS-Ia) at same pressure drop penalty.