Heating a residential building using the heat generated in the lithium ion battery pack by the electrochemical process

This article simulates the cooling of three packs of lithium-ion batteries using airflow in a ventilation channel. Battery packs include 12 cell batteries. Air heated by the battery is used to provide some of the energy needed for a two-story residential unit in a cold, dry environment. The energy required for this building is estimated using Design Builder software for different months of the year, and the ability to supply this energy is measured by cooling the batteries. By changing the air velocity in the range of 0.01 to 0.02 m/s and seven arrangements of battery packs in the ventilation channel, the temperature values of the battery cells, the outlet temperature of the channel, etc. are estimated. COMSOL 5.5 Multiphysics software is used to simulate the ventilation channel with battery packs. The results show that the average and optimal temperature of the battery cells can be reduced to 4.14 and 11.01 degrees C, respectively, by enhancing the air velocity. However, the increment in air velocity reduces the air outlet temperature, so that the minimum reduction is 4.23 degrees C with doubling the velocity. The designed system can supply up to 74.3% of the energy required for the house (October) from the total energy required for heating. Using this battery cooling system leads to a reduction of the amount of annual energy required by the building using urban energy sources from 17 to 14.2 kWh.

Automated summary

This study simulated the cooling of three packs of lithium-ion batteries using airflow in a ventilation channel to provide energy for a residential unit. The results indicate that increasing air velocity can reduce the temperature of the battery cells, but also lower the outlet temperature of the channel.