Performance enhancement of a novel serpentine channel cooled plate used for cooling of Li-ion battery module

One of the most significant challenges of battery thermal management system is manifested in maintaining optimal battery performance by keeping the overall battery temperature within a narrow temperature range. The present work aimed to study a novel design of ribbed serpentine channel cooled plate (SCCP) as an effective cooling module of Li-ion battery. The study included a numerical simulation of the effect of the rib orientation (90 degrees, 75 degrees, 60 degrees, and 45 degrees) and the rib shape (semi-circular, trapezoidal, and triangular) on the hydrothermal performance of SCCP. The study was conducted under laminar flow conditions for a Reynolds number range (200-1000) and battery cell discharge rate range (1C-2C). The numerical simulation results were validated against experimental measurements of the performance of a SCCP with semi-circular ribs that rotated by 90 degrees. The validation showed a good agreement with a maximum deviation of 8% and 11% for the Nusselt number and the friction factor, respectively. The results of the study indicated that the ribs play a vital role in improving the heat transfer. It is found that the rib orientation was more effective than the rib shape in enhancing the hydrothermal performance improvement factor. In addition, the triangular rib with 45 degrees orientation showed highest performance improvement factor compared with the other SCCP designs with a value of 1.3.