Research on Battery Thermal Management of Pouch Cell Using a Phase Change Material-Based Thermal Switch

Abstract

In view of the battery thermal management system, this paper proposed a new battery temperature control device based on the phase change material stearic acid and thermal switches. The device is applied to the pouch cell. The cooling and heat preservation abilities were studied based on numerical simulation. It provides the passive drive for the thermal switch based on the volume change characteristics of the organic phase change material stearic acid during the phase change process, which can effectively dissipate heat when the battery temperature increases. Thermal energy dissipation is decreased when the battery is used in a cold environment. The numerical results show that, compared with the battery without the thermal management system, the temperature control system with the phase change material and thermal switch reduces the battery temperature by 22.46 ℃ at the end of the 4 C rate charge and discharge. When the external ambient temperature is -20 ℃, the novel thermal management system prolongs the battery temperature management time by 390 s.

Keywords

• lithium-ion battery
• battery thermal management
• thermal switch
• phase change material
• passive temperature control