NUMERICAL STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF HEAT PIPE-BASED THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR POWER LITHIUM BATTERY

Abstract

The power battery thermal management system (BTMS) is a key component of an electric vehicle (EV) thermal management system. In this paper, a novel heat pipe-based temperature control system for power batteries is devised for a cylindrical battery pack. In this system, the battery is wrapped in an aluminum sleeve with heat pipes attached to the outside, and heat is removed from the heat pipe's evaporative end by the coolant. Effects of four different arrangements of heat pipes on the thermal properties of BTMS under different inlet flow conditions are studied numerically. The results show that when the flow rate reaches a certain value, the temperature of the battery module no longer decreases and even rises. Finally, based on the comprehensive consideration of energy consumption and cooling performance, the optimal heat pipe arrangement is concluded for the battery in different discharge rate scenarios. In conclusion, the cooling method of heat pipe plus liquid cooling can effectively control the battery temperature, and the temperature homogeneity of the system can be well improved by adjusting the position of the heat pipe arrangement. When the cell heat generation is 0.65 W/cell, the overall temperature difference of the battery pack is reduced by 15% by optimizing the heat pipe arrangement, and when the cell heat generation is 2 W/cell, the overall temperature difference is reduced by 19%.