TY - JOUR
T1 - Challenges in incorporating phase change materials into thermal control units for lithium-ion battery cooling
AU - Farouk, Naeim
AU - Alotaibi, Abdullah Alhumaidi
AU - Alshahri, Abdullah H.
AU - Almitani, Khalid H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - Keeping cool the lithium-ion battery improves its performance. In this study, focusing on battery cooling, a thermal control unit (TCU) containing metal fins was integrated into the battery. To boost TCU effectiveness, phase change material (PCM) was injected into it. By numerical solution, the temperature distribution in three areas of battery, fins and PCM was determined. Using Fourier's law, TCU heat dissipation to the environment was evaluated at different convection coefficients (5, 10, and 20 [Formula presented]). It was observed that the presence of PCM is not always advantageous. The presence of PCM can only be useful if the PCM undergoes phase changes. This happened at 5 [Formula presented]>, and at best conditions, the battery temperature dropped by 8°C due to the PCM presence. After the melting process, the PCM presence significantly augmented the battery temperature. At 20 [Formula presented] battery temperature was increased by 4.8 °C when PCM was loaded into TCU. Therefore, adding PCM to TCU with convection coefficient is not recommended. Increasing the number of fins declined the battery temperature. If the number of fins increases from three to five, the battery cooled by 1 to 1.7°C
AB - Keeping cool the lithium-ion battery improves its performance. In this study, focusing on battery cooling, a thermal control unit (TCU) containing metal fins was integrated into the battery. To boost TCU effectiveness, phase change material (PCM) was injected into it. By numerical solution, the temperature distribution in three areas of battery, fins and PCM was determined. Using Fourier's law, TCU heat dissipation to the environment was evaluated at different convection coefficients (5, 10, and 20 [Formula presented]). It was observed that the presence of PCM is not always advantageous. The presence of PCM can only be useful if the PCM undergoes phase changes. This happened at 5 [Formula presented]>, and at best conditions, the battery temperature dropped by 8°C due to the PCM presence. After the melting process, the PCM presence significantly augmented the battery temperature. At 20 [Formula presented] battery temperature was increased by 4.8 °C when PCM was loaded into TCU. Therefore, adding PCM to TCU with convection coefficient is not recommended. Increasing the number of fins declined the battery temperature. If the number of fins increases from three to five, the battery cooled by 1 to 1.7°C
KW - Convection
KW - Cooling
KW - Fin
KW - Lithium-ion battery
KW - PCM
KW - TCU
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124189304&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.est.2022.104094
DO - 10.1016/j.est.2022.104094
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124189304
SN - 2352-152X
VL - 49
JO - Journal of Energy Storage
JF - Journal of Energy Storage
M1 - 104094
ER -
