Review on thermal management systems using phase change materials for electronic components, Li-ion batteries and photovoltaic modules

Abstract

Improper operating temperature will degrade the performances of electronic components, Li-ion batteries and photovoltaic (PV) cells, which calls for a good thermal management system. In this paper, specific attention is paid to the thermal management systems based on phase change materials (PCMs). Performances of the PCM-based thermal management systems for for each kind of these three devices along with the type of PCM used, thermal properties of that kind of PCM, like phase change temperature, enthalpy of phase change and thermal conductivity are discussed. Discussion in detail on techniques to improve the thermal conductivity of PCMs are made because of its crucial influence. Advanced-structure heatsinks with multi-layer PCMs and hybrid passive heatsinks combined with active cooling are also introduced. The PCM-based thermal management system is powerful in ensuring electronic devices, Li-ion batteries and photovoltaic cells working safely and efficiently.

Evaporation-driven vapour microflows: analytical solutions from moment methods

“…For example, continued miniaturisation of mechanical and electrical components has led to steep increases in power density, making thermal management a critical aspect of microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) design today. Evaporation and condensation are very efficient modes of heat transfer and as such are employed in component cooling and in energy conversion systems (Ling et al 2014;Plawsky et al 2014) leading to considerable research into the study of phase transition at the micro and nano scales. Understanding the evaporation of liquid droplets is critical to a broad range of natural processes, such as body temperature control of mammals (Sherwood 2005), and many industrial cooling processes, such as spray drying, spray cooling and microelectronics cooling (Dhavaleswarapu, Murthy & Garimella 2012;Plawsky et al 2014;Hodes et al 2015).…”

Advances in Integrated Vehicle Thermal Management and Numerical Simulation

“…To optimize battery packing safety, it is desirable to operate Li-ion battery packing in a suitable operation temperature range of 20~40 • C [86]. Thus, it is necessary to conduct thermal management for battery cooling/pre-heating [87] with consideration of the number of cells, geometry and vehicle mass distribution [88]. It is generally well-known that considering the different cooling media, the battery thermal management (BTM) approaches can be summarized as follows: air cooling, liquid cooling, heat pipes and PCM cooling [89][90][91][92][93][94].…”

Microencapsulation of Paraffin Wax Microspheres with Silver

“…As PCM absorbs heat, it stores thermal energy by breaking internal chemical bonding, while it releases the stored energy by re-bonding when heat is discharged to surrounding 1 . Over the last few decades, effective use of PCMs has been proven in their utilisation in various thermal storage devices such as solar energy storage 2 , space conditioning 3 , industrial heat waste management 4 , cooling technology for electronics 5,6 , cold storage 7 and smart textiles 8 etc. Use of latent heat thermal energy storage devices is also found application in military services, where defence personnel are deputed in harsh environments 1 .…”