Performance of an Environmentally Friendly Alternative Fluid in a Loop Heat Pipe-Based Battery Thermal Management System

The present investigation aims to devise a thermal management system (TMS) for electric vehicles able to improve on limitations like charging time and all-electric range, together with the safety and environmental impact of the chosen thermal medium. A research gap is identified, as focus is often on addressing system thermal performance without considering that the thermal medium must not only provide suitable performances, but also must not add risks to both passengers and the environment. Thus, this work proposes an innovative cooling system including graphite sheets and a Loop Heat Pipe, filled with Novec™ 649 as working fluid, due to its exceptional environmental properties (GWP = 1 − ODP = 0) and safety features (non-flammable, non-toxic, dielectric). A three-cell module experimental demonstrator was built to compare temperatures when the proposed TMS is run with Novec™ 649 and ethanol. Results of testing over a bespoke fast charge driving cycle show that Novec™ 649 gave a faster start-up and a slightly higher maximum temperature (0.7 °C), meaning that the gains in safety and lower environmental impact brought by Novec™ 649 came without lowering the thermal performance. Finally, the TMS was tested under three different fast charge conditions (1C, 2C, 3C), obtaining maximum temperatures of 28.4 °C, 36.3 °C and 46.4 °C, respectively.