Numerical Investigation of a Single Cell (Li-Ion) Combined with Phase Change Material and Additives for Battery Thermal Management

Li-ion batteries are commonly used in Electric Vehicles (EVs) due to its high-power density and higher life cycle performance. Individual cells in such battery packs may sometimes lead to thermal runaway conditions under the effect of localized heat generation and faults. Battery liquid cooling methods are normally being employed to resolve this problem with limitations of limited temperature operating range and difficulty in reaching the intricate spaces between the cells. Introducing phase change material (PCM) can mitigate these limitations. The present study deals with a detailed numerical study of a single (Li-ion) cell in ANSYS Fluent using multi-scale multi dimension (MSMD) - Newman, Tiedenann, Gu and Kim (NTGK) model. The single cell model is investigated for the evaluation of its temperatures at varying air velocity surrounding the cell at higher C-rating (load) values. It was observed that the maximum cell surface temperatures were as 322.6, 319.8, 318.1, 316.9, 314.4 and 313.4 K corresponding to 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 m/s for 1.5C discharge rating. Further, the study also involved the investigation of composite PCM based on Paraffin and Vaseline (50:50; CPCM) for improving the cooling performance. It was found that the doping of 2% of Cu in CPCM resulted in ~8°C lower cell surface temperature.