A structural difference design for thermal management to improve the temperature uniformity of high energy density lithium-ion batteries

With the development of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, the thermal management of lithium-ion batteries is getting increasingly prominent. The temperature difference of the battery is a crucial parameter in thermal management. In the liquid cooling scheme, Tmax is more likely to decrease with increasing flow. The temperature difference of the battery is often easier to reach the upper limit of the thermal design than its maximum temperature. In this paper, based on the performance difference of the spoiler structure, the structural difference design is adopted to improve the temperature uniformity of high energy density lithium-ion batteries. The effects of discharge rate and flow rate on the heat dissipation performance of the liquid cooling plate were analyzed by experiments. The results reveal that the structure difference design considerably enhances the battery's temperature uniformity and improves when the flow rate increases. The liquid cooling plate with the structural difference design, embedded with cavity and rib structure, has the best comprehensive heat transfer performance. At low flow rates(qm < 12L/h), structurally differentiated designs can lower the Delta Tmax by approximately 2 degrees C. The numerical model of the liquid cooling module was established, and the influence of cavity and rib size on heat dissipation performance was analyzed. The results show that when the rib and cavity are embedded in the serpentine channel, the increase in the height and diameter of the cavity is beneficial in improving the heat dissipation performance of the liquid cooling plate, while the increase in the height and diameter of the rib will weaken the heat dissipation performance.