Numerical investigation of fin geometries on the effectiveness of passive, phase-change material−based thermal management systems for lithium-ion batteries

Ismail, M., Panter, J. R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8523-7629 and Landini, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6211-7800 (2025) Numerical investigation of fin geometries on the effectiveness of passive, phase-change material−based thermal management systems for lithium-ion batteries. Applied Thermal Engineering, 262. ISSN 1359-4311

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Abstract

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) packs serve as the primary energy storage solution for electric vehicles (EVs), but suffer from degraded performance under non-uniform and sub-optimal operating temperatures. Passive Thermal Management Systems (TMS) based on solid–liquid Phase Change Materials (PCMs) exhibit significant potential, however PCMs’ low thermal conductivity has limited their application. Integrating fins to improve heat transfer has been proposed, but there remains a lack of knowledge regarding how the system size and discharge time scale affects thermal performance with differing fin geometries. Here, a numerical model is developed using Ansys Fluent and validated to examine the time-resolved TMS performance with differing fin geometries under thermal loading and resting conditions. Two system scales are examined, with dimensions of the order of either 10 mm or 100 mm. For small-scale systems, fins offer no meaningful improvement compared to PCM alone: the best-performing fin geometry only reduces the maximum cell temperature by 0.2 °C at the end of a 720 s (5C) discharge. However, for the large-scale system, the performance depends strongly on the discharge duration. Of all geometries, 9 vertical fins are best performing at 480 s of discharge (38.3 °C maximum cell temperature with a 2.4 °C disuniformity), but become worst performing at 720 s (44.0 °C, 7.2 °C disuniformity). At 720 s, 7 horizontal fins instead become best performing (42.5 °C, 2.6 °C disuniformity) as large thermal gradients caused by convection are suppressed. Overall, we show via a Pareto analysis which geometries offer acceptable trade-offs between thermal performance and TMS mass.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Data availability statement: Data will be made available on request. Funding information: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Uncontrolled Keywords: li-ion batteries,thermal management systems,phase change materials,latent heat,iso-thermalisation,design criteria,mechanical engineering,energy engineering and power technology,sdg 7 - affordable and clean energy,3*,stefano landini,jack panter ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2200/2210
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Numerical Simulation, Statistics & Data Science
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Fluids & Structures
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Sustainable Energy
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 18 Dec 2024 01:39
Last Modified: 19 Dec 2024 01:14
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98018
DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.125216

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