Battery thermal management system by employing different phase change materials with SWCNT nanoparticles to obtain better battery cooling performance

Abstract

Maintaining a stable temperature within a battery is essential for optimizing the performance of battery thermal management systems. Phase change materials (PCMs) have demonstrated potential in achieving this stability. This study investigates the use of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) dispersed in three PCMs with varying fusion temperatures to regulate the temperature of a lithium-ion battery (LIB) during discharge, a common scenario in electric vehicles. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach was utilized to simulate the liquid-solid transition of the PCMs, incorporating buoyancy forces in the liquid phase surrounding the LIB. The study examined the effects of different C-rates (1, 2, and 3), SWCNT volume fractions (0, 2, and 4 %), and three types of PCMs (RT27, RT35, and RT58) across multiple simulation scenarios to evaluate their impacts on LIB temperature and PCM melting fraction. Results indicate that nano-enhanced PCMs, which exhibit superior convection effects in the liquid phase, significantly enhance battery cooling performance. Specifically, at a C-rate of 1, using a 4 % volume fraction of nanoparticles in the PCM reduces the battery temperature by an average of 4.138 K compared to cases without nanoparticles. Additionally, while nanoparticles are generally reported to have a minor effect on cooling and melting processes, this study reveals that considering the beneficial effects of SWCNTs and the physical properties of the selected PCMs, the cooling performance of LIBs improves by 4.69 percentage points for the scenario with a C-rate of 3, RT58, and phi = 0.02. In this particular case, the melting process is more pronounced in the top half of the battery, where the increased velocity magnitude of the melted region contributes to enhanced battery cooling.