Thermal management system for air-cooled battery packs with flow-disturbing structures

Lithium-ion battery packs are preferred in electrical vehicles (EVs) due to their efficient and stable characteristics. Battery thermal management systems (BTMS) have vital importance in EVs to keep batteries in the desired temperature range to maximize performance and lifetime. BTMS with air cooling is simpler and lighter relative to competing methods; however, low thermal conductivity and heat capacity of air necessitate thermal performance and pressure drop adjustments. This work offers a novel design method for cylindrical cells by evaluating the effect of various baffles (cylindrical, triangular, diamond and winglet) on the cooling performance and pressure drop of an air-cooled battery module with 12 21700 cylindrical cells. Thermal characteristics are simulated by the electrochemical-thermal battery model, the P3D multiscale model (modelling parameters for a commercial 21700 cell are documented) in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5 and their accuracy is validated by experiments. As a result, baffles reduce the maximum temperature and temperature difference by 5% (1.8 °C) and 40% (1.7 °C), respectively, consuming 3.5 times more power than the base design. Delta winglets offer the optimum solution, reducing the maximum temperature and temperature difference by 2% (0.6 °C) and 15% (0.7 °C), respectively, with a 44% (0.12 W) rise in parasitic power consumption.