| Peer-Reviewed

Performance Investigation of PCM/Pin Fin Coupled Battery Thermal Management System

Received: 5 June 2022     Published: 8 June 2022
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

The low thermal conductivity of phase-change materials (PCMs) hampers the commercialization of PCM cooling battery thermal management systems. Further reduction of the thermal resistance between the PCM and batteries is still a challenging problem. In this study, a PCM / pin fin design is proposed. ANSYS Fluent was used to construct the model of PCM / pin fin design. The SIMPLE algorithm and the second-order upwind scheme were used to solve the momentum and energy equations. Compared with the traditional pure PCM and PCM/plate fin designs, the maximum temperature of the battery (Tmax) was lower for the PCM/pin fin design because the heat transport from the batteries to the PCM was enhanced owing to the pin fin with a larger heat-transfer area. Tmax for the pure PCM configuration reached 55.76°C after discharge, exceeding the upper-limit temperature of 55°C. In contrast, for the PCM/pin fin design, Tmax was only 53.44°C. This indicates that the PCM/pin fin design effectively alleviates the heat accumulation of the battery and successfully maintains the battery temperature within a safe range. The effects of PCM thickness and fin section area on thermal behavior were investigated. It was found that the decrease of fin cross-sectional area can significantly reduce Tmax. When the fin cross-sectional area is 1 mm2, the Tmax is only 51.07°C. In addition to control Tmax under 55°C, the minimum PCM thicknesses were 3.71, 2.89, and 2.38 mm for pure PCM, PCM/plate fin, and PCM/pin fin, respectively. Thus, compared with the other designs, in the PCM/pin fin design, fewer materials are required, the weight of the modules is reduced, and the energy density is improved.

Published in American Journal of Energy Engineering (Volume 10, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13
Page(s) 45-52
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Battery Thermal Management Systems, PCM Cooling, Pin Fin, Design

References
[1] Li J, Liang M, Cheng W, et al. Life cycle cost of conventional, battery electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles considering traffic and environmental policies in China [J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2021, 46 (14): 9553-9566.
[2] Kong W, Han Z, Lu S, et al. A simple but effective design to enhance the performance and durability of direct carbon solid oxide fuel cells [J]. Applied Energy, 2021, 287.
[3] Huang H, Han Z, Lu S, et al. The analysis of structure parameters of MOLB type solid oxide fuel cell [J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2020, 45 (39): 20351-20359.
[4] Xiaoling X. Closed-Loop Design for Standalone Photovoltaic-Battery Hybrid Power System [J]. Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2016, 4 (5).
[5] Wu B, Xie Y, Meng Y, et al. Construction of unique heterogeneous cobalt–manganese oxide porous microspheres for the assembly of long-cycle and high-rate lithium ion battery anodes [J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2019, 7 (11): 6149-6160.
[6] Kang Y. Analysis of the Temperature Change of a Single Battery Based on Simulink [J]. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2021.
[7] Rani M F H, Razlan Z M, Shahriman A B, et al. Comparative study of surface temperature of lithium-ion polymer cells at different discharging rates by infrared thermography and thermocouple [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2020, 153.
[8] Li H. State of Charge Estimation for Lithium-Ion Battery Models Based on a Thermoelectric Coupling Model [J]. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2020: 3807-3824.
[9] Nabil T, Helmy Omar A-B, Mohamed Mansour T. Experimental Approach and CFD Simulation of Battery Electric Vehicle Body [J]. International Journal of Fluid Mechanics & Thermal Sciences, 2020, 6 (2).
[10] Yang S. A Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Management System Strategies and the Evaluate Criteria [J]. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2019: 6077-6107.
[11] Rao Z, Wang S. A review of power battery thermal energy management [J]. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2011, 15 (9): 4554-4571.
[12] Wang F, Li T, Fang Y, et al. Heterogeneous structured Mn2O3/Fe2O3 composite as anode material for high performance lithium ion batteries [J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2020.
[13] Li H. Electrochemical-thermal coupled model for the optimal design of a liquid cooling module of a cylindrical lithium-ion battery [J]. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2021.
[14] Lei S, Shi Y, Chen G. A lithium-ion battery-thermal-management design based on phase-change-material thermal storage and spray cooling [J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2020, 168.
[15] Chen F, Wang J, Yang X. Topology optimization design and numerical analysis on cold plates for lithium-ion battery thermal management [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2022, 183.
[16] Xia Q, Wang Z, Ren Y, et al. A reliability design method for a lithium-ion battery pack considering the thermal disequilibrium in electric vehicles [J]. Journal of Power Sources, 2018, 386: 10-20.
[17] Nguyen H Q, Shabani B. Thermal management of metal hydride hydrogen storage using phase change materials for standalone solar hydrogen systems: An energy/exergy investigation [J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2021.
[18] Du X, Qian Z, Chen Z, et al. Experimental investigation on mini-channel cooling-based thermal management for Li-ion battery module under different cooling schemes [J]. International Journal of Energy Research, 2018, 42 (8): 2781-2788.
[19] Rao Z, Wang S, Zhang G. Simulation and experiment of thermal energy management with phase change material for ageing LiFePO4 power battery [J]. Energy Conversion and Management, 2011, 52 (12): 3408-3414.
[20] Wu W, Wu W, Wang S. Thermal management optimization of a prismatic battery with shape-stabilized phase change material [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2018, 121: 967-977.
[21] Ling Z, Chen J, Fang X, et al. Experimental and numerical investigation of the application of phase change materials in a simulative power batteries thermal management system [J]. Applied Energy, 2014, 121: 104-113.
[22] Babapoor A, Azizi M, Karimi G. Thermal management of a Li-ion battery using carbon fiber-PCM composites [J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2015, 82: 281-290.
[23] Qu Z G, Li W Q, Tao W Q. Numerical model of the passive thermal management system for high-power lithium ion battery by using porous metal foam saturated with phase change material [J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2014, 39 (8): 3904-3913.
[24] Wang Z, Zhang H, Xia X. Experimental investigation on the thermal behavior of cylindrical battery with composite paraffin and fin structure [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2017, 109: 958-970.
[25] Weng J, Ouyang D, Yang X, et al. Optimization of the internal fin in a phase-change-material module for battery thermal management [J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2020, 167.
[26] Sun Z, Fan R, Yan F, et al. Thermal management of the lithium-ion battery by the composite PCM-Fin structures [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2019, 145.
[27] Ping P, Peng R, Kong D, et al. Investigation on thermal management performance of PCM-fin structure for Li-ion battery module in high-temperature environment [J]. Energy Conversion and Management, 2018, 176: 131-146.
[28] Arshad A, Ali H M, Yan W-M, et al. An experimental study of enhanced heat sinks for thermal management using n-eicosane as phase change material [J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2018, 132: 52-66.
[29] Ali H M, Ashraf M J, Giovannelli A, et al. Thermal management of electronics: An experimental analysis of triangular, rectangular and circular pin-fin heat sinks for various PCMs [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2018, 123: 272-284.
[30] Desai A N, Gunjal A, Singh V K. Numerical investigations of fin efficacy for phase change material (PCM) based thermal control module [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2020, 147.
[31] Ren Q, Guo P, Zhu J. Thermal management of electronic devices using pin-fin based cascade microencapsulated PCM/expanded graphite composite [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2020, 149.
[32] Rao Z, Wang Q, Huang C. Investigation of the thermal performance of phase change material/mini-channel coupled battery thermal management system [J]. Applied Energy, 2016, 164: 659-669.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Xipo Lu, Jingtao Jin, Wei Kong, Leitao Han. (2022). Performance Investigation of PCM/Pin Fin Coupled Battery Thermal Management System. American Journal of Energy Engineering, 10(2), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Xipo Lu; Jingtao Jin; Wei Kong; Leitao Han. Performance Investigation of PCM/Pin Fin Coupled Battery Thermal Management System. Am. J. Energy Eng. 2022, 10(2), 45-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Xipo Lu, Jingtao Jin, Wei Kong, Leitao Han. Performance Investigation of PCM/Pin Fin Coupled Battery Thermal Management System. Am J Energy Eng. 2022;10(2):45-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13,
      author = {Xipo Lu and Jingtao Jin and Wei Kong and Leitao Han},
      title = {Performance Investigation of PCM/Pin Fin Coupled Battery Thermal Management System},
      journal = {American Journal of Energy Engineering},
      volume = {10},
      number = {2},
      pages = {45-52},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajee.20221002.13},
      abstract = {The low thermal conductivity of phase-change materials (PCMs) hampers the commercialization of PCM cooling battery thermal management systems. Further reduction of the thermal resistance between the PCM and batteries is still a challenging problem. In this study, a PCM / pin fin design is proposed. ANSYS Fluent was used to construct the model of PCM / pin fin design. The SIMPLE algorithm and the second-order upwind scheme were used to solve the momentum and energy equations. Compared with the traditional pure PCM and PCM/plate fin designs, the maximum temperature of the battery (Tmax) was lower for the PCM/pin fin design because the heat transport from the batteries to the PCM was enhanced owing to the pin fin with a larger heat-transfer area. Tmax for the pure PCM configuration reached 55.76°C after discharge, exceeding the upper-limit temperature of 55°C. In contrast, for the PCM/pin fin design, Tmax was only 53.44°C. This indicates that the PCM/pin fin design effectively alleviates the heat accumulation of the battery and successfully maintains the battery temperature within a safe range. The effects of PCM thickness and fin section area on thermal behavior were investigated. It was found that the decrease of fin cross-sectional area can significantly reduce Tmax. When the fin cross-sectional area is 1 mm2, the Tmax is only 51.07°C. In addition to control Tmax under 55°C, the minimum PCM thicknesses were 3.71, 2.89, and 2.38 mm for pure PCM, PCM/plate fin, and PCM/pin fin, respectively. Thus, compared with the other designs, in the PCM/pin fin design, fewer materials are required, the weight of the modules is reduced, and the energy density is improved.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Performance Investigation of PCM/Pin Fin Coupled Battery Thermal Management System
    AU  - Xipo Lu
    AU  - Jingtao Jin
    AU  - Wei Kong
    AU  - Leitao Han
    Y1  - 2022/06/08
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13
    T2  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    SP  - 45
    EP  - 52
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2329-163X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221002.13
    AB  - The low thermal conductivity of phase-change materials (PCMs) hampers the commercialization of PCM cooling battery thermal management systems. Further reduction of the thermal resistance between the PCM and batteries is still a challenging problem. In this study, a PCM / pin fin design is proposed. ANSYS Fluent was used to construct the model of PCM / pin fin design. The SIMPLE algorithm and the second-order upwind scheme were used to solve the momentum and energy equations. Compared with the traditional pure PCM and PCM/plate fin designs, the maximum temperature of the battery (Tmax) was lower for the PCM/pin fin design because the heat transport from the batteries to the PCM was enhanced owing to the pin fin with a larger heat-transfer area. Tmax for the pure PCM configuration reached 55.76°C after discharge, exceeding the upper-limit temperature of 55°C. In contrast, for the PCM/pin fin design, Tmax was only 53.44°C. This indicates that the PCM/pin fin design effectively alleviates the heat accumulation of the battery and successfully maintains the battery temperature within a safe range. The effects of PCM thickness and fin section area on thermal behavior were investigated. It was found that the decrease of fin cross-sectional area can significantly reduce Tmax. When the fin cross-sectional area is 1 mm2, the Tmax is only 51.07°C. In addition to control Tmax under 55°C, the minimum PCM thicknesses were 3.71, 2.89, and 2.38 mm for pure PCM, PCM/plate fin, and PCM/pin fin, respectively. Thus, compared with the other designs, in the PCM/pin fin design, fewer materials are required, the weight of the modules is reduced, and the energy density is improved.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China

  • School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China

  • School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China

  • State Key Laboratory of Building Safety and Built Environment, Beijing, China

  • Sections