Search

• The predicted results agree with the experimental results an average error of 1.28%. • Coolant-improved flow direction and thermophysical properties significantly affect the decreasing maximum operating temperature and temperature gradient across a cell. • The highest temperatures of the battery module are 30.06 °C, 30.00 °C, 29.91 °C, 29.89 °C, and 29.49 °C for models II, IV, III, I, and V. • The maximum temperature gradient across a cell, models I, II, and III give the highest value [0.42 °C], and consequently, models [0.40 °C] and model v [0.15 °C]. The operating battery temperature significantly affects electric vehicle performance, reliability, and safety. Therefore, batteries need to keep within the operating temperature design. The 3D Eulerian model is applied to determine battery thermal behavior with five different flow directions of coolant throughout the battery pack jacket. The computational domain consists of sixty cylindrical Li-ion cells inserted into the cooling module socket with constant power input conditions. The predicted results are consistent with the experimental results, with an average error of 1.28%. Coolant-improved flow direction and thermophysical properties significantly affect the decreasing maximum operating temperature and temperature gradient across a cell. The highest temperatures of the battery module are 30.06 °C, 30.00 °C, 29.91 °C, 29.89 °C, and 29.49 °C for models II, IV, III, I, and V, respectively. In addition, for the maximum temperature gradient across a cell, models I, II, and III yield the highest value [0.42 °C], followed by models IV [0.40 °C] and model V [0.15 °C], respectively. The proposed battery nanofluid cooling pack can therefore optimize the thermal management system of the EV pack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Diverging channel design cooling plate with oblique fins is newly proposed. • Thermal unbalance of the battery module is improved using the proposed design. • Cell-to-cell temperature difference in the pack cooling is decreased by 19.07%. • The pumping power to satisfy the temperature conditions is decreased by 67.8%. In this study, the thermal and hydraulic performances of a battery thermal management system are investigated in terms of the design of the cooling plate. A diverging channel with oblique fins (DCOF) cooling plate is newly proposed to overcome the limitations of the conventional straight channel cooling plate. The diverging design is applied to control the coolant velocity and heat transfer area, with oblique fins inserted to enhance the heat transfer efficiency. A simulation model of the battery and cooling system is developed and experimentally validated. When the DCOF design is applied to the battery module, the temperature uniformity is improved in terms of the temperature difference and standard deviation. As the investigation is extended from the module to the battery pack, the temperature difference and temperature standard deviation in the battery module are improved by 19.07% and 27.14%, respectively. Considering the power consumption of the cooling system, as the thermal performance of the DCOF design and baseline design is maintained, the power consumption of the coolant pump of the DCOF design is significantly reduced by 67.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]