Abstract:
Many kinds of cooling methods are used in electric vehicles' battery thermal management systems both in commercial applications and research. Air cooled systems, due to its basic construction and low cost are worthy to develop despite of low cooling performance. In this study, a novel air cooled battery thermal management system is proposed, especially for low power applications. Commonly used cylindrical Li-ion batteries were re-designed with rectangular fins donated on the side surface longitudinally. Aligned and staggered arrays for 4S6P battery module and three different fin configurations were envisaged for two different spacing between batteries, air flow direction and Re numbers. Different air inlet temperatures were also used as parameters. Results showed that fins have a great effect on cooling performance so that they allow for optimum battery temperature condition; maximum temperature for batteries is between 15 °C and 35 °C. On the other hand, they are insufficient to sustain temperature uniformity for 5 °C temperature difference in entire module volume. Distances between batteries and air flow direction are also decisive for a successful thermal design. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd