Experimental Investigation of Various Methods for Enhancing Thermal Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Liquid-Vapor Phase Change

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Energy and Environment Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Borujerd, Iran

2 1Energy and Environment Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Borujerd, Iran

Abstract

In this study, a novel thermal management method for lithium-ion batteries based on liquid–vapor phase change was investigated. A battery pack, consisting of twelve cylindrical 18650 cells, was placed in a chamber immersed in R-141b refrigerant, and the effects of four key parameters were experimentally evaluated: i.e., refrigerant immersion height (0%, 50%, and 100% of the cell height), discharge rate (from 1C to 4C), cooling method (no cooling, natural convection, and forced convection using a fan), and initial hydrogel temperature (10 °C and 24 °C). The results showed that increasing the immersion height and using hydrogel with a lower initial temperature led to the greatest reductions in both maximum cell temperature and final chamber pressure. At a 4C discharge rate, the maximum cell temperature in the fully immersed condition was 31 °C lower than that in the no-cooling condition. Additionally, using hydrogel reduced the final chamber pressure by up to 44.4%. In the no-cooling condition, the maximum temperature at 4C discharge exceeded 71 °C, which is above the safe operating limit of lithium-ion cells. However, with full immersion, this temperature was reduced to 40 °C. With the use of hydrogel at an initial temperature of 10 °C, it was further reduced to approximately 34.5 °C.

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References

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