Thermal cooling characteristics of Li-ion battery pack with thermoelectric ferrofluid cooling module

Abstract

The batteries have been continuously for obtaining the high voltage platform and high density of energy with long lifecycle. The operating temperature of the battery cell has a significant effect on the thermal performance. This paper aims to consider the 18 650-type lithium-ion battery pack's thermal characteristics with the thermoelectric module using ferrofluid as a coolant. The experiment apparatus is test to determine the lithium-ion battery pack's temperature distributions. Effects of the relevant parameters; hot and cold side flow rates (0.03-0.05 m3/hr), supplied voltage through thermoelectric (8-12 V), coolant types (De-ionized water and ferrofluid), and ferrofluid concentrations (0.005%-0.015% by volume) on the battery pack's cooling performance are considered. It is found that the thermoelectric cooling system significantly affects the battery pack cooling and gives the temperature of battery below 30°C. Higher cold and hot side flow rates can decrease average battery cell temperature by 3°C to 5°C, and the obtained uniformity temperature is below 3°C. Besides, ferrofluid concentration significantly reduces the average battery cell temperature when compared with deionized water. The proposed cooling system demonstrates the advantage of the electrical vehicle battery pack with the thermal cooling system. However, the optimized battery thermal management system still performs much better than the original one for various coolant flow rates and for the situation of heat generation rate. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd