A comprehensive investigation on thermal management of large-capacity pouch cell using micro heat pipe array

A proper and effective battery thermal management system (BTMS) is critical for large-capacity pouch cells to guarantee a suitable operating temperature and temperature difference. Hence, in this paper, a micro heat pipe array (MHPA) is utilized to build the thermal management system for large-capacity pouch cells. In order to study the property of BTMS in depth, experimental and numerical investigation are carried out by considering the C-rate, working medium, air velocity and duty. The experimental results present that the T-max can be maintained below 43.7 degrees C and the Delta T is below 4.9 degrees C at the discharge rate of 3C in the battery module with MHPA-liquid. Moreover, the T-max of the battery module with MHPA-liquid falls as the air velocity increases. The simulation results show that the variation and distribution of temperature matched well with experimental results. It demonstrates that the MHPA-based BTMS is viable and effective for large-capacity pouch cell battery, even at high C-rate and cycle duty.