Experimental Investigation on Pouch Lithium-ion Battery Thermal Management with Mini-Channels Cooling Plate Based on Heat Generation Characteristic

An electrochemical thermal coupling model of lithium battery was established to study the heat generation characteristic in this study. The simulation results showed that the heat generation density of the battery increased with the discharge rate. With the discharge process, the heat generation density of the battery increased continuously. With 2.5C discharge rate, the heat generation density at the end of discharge was 1.82 times of that at the beginning of discharge. The heat generation density at different areas of the battery was not uniform and 46% of the total ohmic heat was generated near the electrode tabs. A cooling plate with variable mini-channels was designed to improve the temperature non-uniformity caused by the heat generation characteristic. A cooling plate with uniform mini-channels was designed for compared experiment. The experiments were conducted with deionized water and refrigerant R141b and carried out with 1.5C, 2C and 2.5C discharge rates. Experimental results showed that the cooling plate with variable mini-channels had a better cooling performance in both single-phase and two-phase cooling conditions.

Automated summary

An electrochemical thermal coupling model of a lithium battery was established to study its heat generation characteristic. The simulation results showed that the heat generation density of the battery increased with the discharge rate, and the heat generation density was not uniform in different areas. By designing the mini-channels in the cooling plate, temperature non-uniformity can be improved and the cooling performance can be enhanced.