Parametric Optimisation of a Direct Liquid Cooling–Based Prototype for Electric Vehicles Focused on Pouch-Type Battery Cells

Abstract

In this work, a numerical optimisation process is applied to improve the fluid dynamical aspect of an innovative direct liquid cooling strategy for lithium-ion–based HEV/EV. First, the thermofluidic numerical model of the battery cell defined by means of CFD computational tools was validated with experimental tests. Then, a comparison between different flow patterns was developed to analyse the influence of the fluid distribution geometry. Finally, a parametric multi-objective optimisation process was implemented arranged by a two-level full factorial design. Considering as input variables the height of the fluid, the number of cooling channels, the number of distributors, and the flow rate, the optimal relationship between the thermal performance of the battery cell, the volumetric energy density of the system, and the power consumption of the strategy was obtained. As a result, the energy density of the system was maximised, and the power consumption was reduced while keeping the cell temperature within the optimal range.

Keywords

• lithium-ion
• battery
• thermal management
• CFD
• direct liquid cooling
• energy density