Session: 15-01-01: ASME International Undergraduate Research and Design Exposition

Paper Number: 144926

144926 - Investigation Into the Optimization of Air-Cooled Battery Thermal Management Systems for Electric Vehicles 

The typical cells found in EVs are Lithium-Ion batteries. While offering superior energy density, they are extremely susceptible to temperature variations. At the same time, the charging and discharging of Lithium-Ion battery cells lead to thermal cycling. Due to this, automotive manufacturers use battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) to protect the cell. BTMSs are air-cooled systems. The heat generated within the cells is released by running air through the battery packs. The objective of this research was to study the arrangement of Lithium-Ion cells within an air-cooled system. To do this, six layout variations were constructed in both simulated models and experiment models to test the layouts. The six battery thermal models were first calculated by computational software (ANSYS Icepak). To validate the simulation results, the same housing size and specifications is made and tested experimentally. In the simulation, the heat generation rates were 3 W and 120 W. The average of the layout battery cell temperatures is 21.96 °C for the 3 W heat generation, and 103.46 °C for the 120 W heat generation. The most effective layout was found to be the rectangular layout with a mean cell temperature of 21.91 °C and 98.97 °C. This decrease in average cell temperature can improve the cell temperatures within large scale battery packs, thus improving the health and lifespan of Lithium-Ion cells in electric vehicle battery packs.

Presenting Author: Nicholas Bensman Auburn University

Presenting Author Biography: Current undergraduate research fellow

Authors:

Mehmet Arik Auburn University
Nicholas Bensman Auburn University