Development of Numerical and Experimental Simulation for Cooling of Batteries

The objective of the present work is to establish a validated simulation methodology for air cooling of batteries that can be used in the industrial design process. Therefore an experimental test rig was set up using a pack of prismatic batteries. The flow field is analysed using Particle Image Velocimetry and pressure measurements. First numerical flow calculations focus on the 3D gap flow. The results display a detailed account of the various flow phenomena and their scales that contribute to the complex flow problem of air cooled batteries and they highlight the technical challenges to obtain homogeneous cooling.