Investigation of active heating systems for polymer-solid-state cells in an automotive battery module

• Published in: Journal of power sources 2023-05, Vol.567, p.232968, Article 232968
• Main Authors: Mülberger, Anselm, Körber, Nico, Friess, Benedikt, Setz, Daniel-Steffen, Birke, Kai Peter, Nikolowski, Kristian, Michaelis, Alexander
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automotive cell integration; Solid-state cell; Thermal cell behavior; Thermal module simulation
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.232968

The ionic conductivity of electrolytes, fluid or solid, in lithium-ion cells is essential for the high-performance application in the automotive field. In colder temperatures, the literature shows the polymer solid-state approach has a weakness connected to ionic conductivity (Grundish et al., 2021; Kamaya and et al., 2011; Manthiram et al., 2017) [1–3]. At elevated temperatures the ionic conductivity rises and becomes attractive for the automotive usage. In this work, it is investigated how large automotive pouch cells, with polymer electrolyte and lithium-metal anode, can be heated up. Different heating systems and boundary conditions, as ambient temperature and heating power are investigated. Due to the anisotropic thermal conductivity in- and through-plane of the cell, a high variance in the heating time with different heating systems occurs, with up to 13% difference. A reciprocal effect of heating time and temperature spread inside one cell is observed – the shorter the heating time, the higher the temperature spread. Also, a strong influence of the ambient temperature can be seen. With lower surrounding temperature the heating time rises strongly. In comparison between the ambient temperatures −25 °C and 10 °C the heating time can be reduced by 17%. This work shows that the thermal behavior of new cell technologies needs to be investigated more closely. [Display omitted] •Transient heating behavior of a polymer solid-state cell with lithium metal anode.•Investigation of three different heating systems for automotive applications.•Influence of the heating direction and power on heating time and temperature spread.•Variation of ambient temperature and heating power.