Thermal management of a Li-ion battery using carbon fiber-PCM composites

A combination of latent and sensible heat capabilities has made phase change materials (PCMs) very useful in a variety of heat transfer applications. The main purpose of using the phase change material in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery thermal management systems (BTMs) is to mitigate the excessive temperature rise in the cells and to create uniform temperature distribution within the battery pack. In this work, carbon fibers were added to a PCM to enhance its heat transfer potentials. Various strategies were adopted to manage temperature distribution around a single AA-battery-like simulator. The effects of carbon fiber size and weight percent within the PCM on thermal performance were studied. Experimental results have indicated that a mixture of PCM with 2-mm-long carbon fibers and mass percentage of 0.46% showed the best thermal performance for which the maximum temperature rise in the battery simulator can be reduced by up to 45%. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.