All-climate battery thermal management system integrating units-assembled phase change material module with forced air convection

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) 2024-05, Vol.294, p.130642, Article 130642
• Main Authors: Mo, Chongmao, Xie, Jiekai, Zhang, Guoqing, Zou, Zhiyang, Yang, Xiaoqing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Battery thermal management; Cooling; Forced air convection; Phase change material; Preheating; Units-assembled module
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.130642

Phase change material (PCM) is widely adopted to construct integrated battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) for all climates. However, integrated BTMSs in cylindrical battery modules remain arduous challenges due to the compact/massive cuboid-shaped PCM module and the curved surface of the cells. Herein, we propose a novel all-climate BTMS integrating units-assembled composite PCM (CPCM) module with force air convection. The CPCM module assembled by sleeve-like CPCM units provides developed airflow channels and enlarged heat transfer surface from 1.17 × 10−3 to 3.63 × 10−3 m2 for enhancing convective heat transfer. Consequently, compared to conventional cuboid-shaped module, the thermal resistance of the units-assembled module is remarkably reduced by 52.0% and 60.1%, and the heat flux is enhanced by 7 times under both cooling and preheating modes. In cooling tests, this BTMS demonstrates superior performance by controlling the temperature and temperature difference below 40.30 and 2.80 °C at 3-C discharge, respectively. In preheating tests, it effectively preheats the battery module from 0 to 10 °C in 302 s with a low temperature difference of 3.82 °C. Furthermore, this units-assembled CPCM module saves 53.8 wt% of the CPCM dosage, and thus the energy density of the battery module is increased from 75.6 to 94.4 Wh·kg−1. •All-climate BTMS integrates units-assembled CPCM module with force air convection.•Units-assembled CPCM module provides developed internal structure for heat transfer.•Thermal resistance of CPCM module is reduced, and heat flux is enhanced by 7 times.•BTMS shows superior cooling, preheating and heat-preservation performances.•BTMS reduces CPCM module weight, increasing the energy density of battery module.