A novel thermal management system for EV batteries using phase-change material

A novel thermal management system for electric vehicle(EV) high-power lithium-ion pack that incorporates phase-change material(PCM) was proposed and investigated under the normal and stressful conditions. Based on ecomputational fluid dynamics(CFD),numerical simulations were perfomed under extreme conditions,such as high ambient temperature and high discharge rate,to analyze the thermal behavior of lithium-ion battery pack with a PCM thermal management system. Contrary to the lithium-ion pack without thermal management system for the same compact module and pack configuration,the temperature profile of the cells using PCM was obviously improved during abusive discharge,with a desired maximum temperature below 50℃ and temperature difference within 5℃ and full capacity utilized. In addition,the passive cooling system was able to meet the operating range requirements under these abusive conditions without additional external power.