Enhancing battery thermal management: a study on the feasibility of dual-evaporator loop heat pipe technology

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2023-12, Vol.148 (23), p.13639-13654
• Main Authors: Vachhani, Milan, Sagar, Kalpak R., Patel, Vipul. M., Mehta, Hemantkumar B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ambient temperature; Analytical Chemistry; Batteries; Capacitors; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Deionization; Discharge; Electric vehicles; Evaporation; Evaporators; Feasibility studies; Heat; Heat pipes; Heat transfer; Inorganic Chemistry; Lithium-ion batteries; Loop heat pipes; Management systems; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Modules; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Rechargeable batteries; Thermal management; Thermal resistance
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-023-12628-w

The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a novel dual-evaporator loop heat pipe (DE-LHP) in battery thermal management systems (BTMS). A 3S4P (3-series and 4-parallel) Li-ion battery module with a 12.6 V and 10 Ah capacity is made and tested under various C rates for different environmental conditions. The battery generates an average heat of 11.28 W@1C and 24.44 W@1.5C with 100% discharge and 43.36 W@2C with 50% discharge at an ambient temperature of 30 °C. An increase in temperature from 30 to 40 °C results in a decline in the depth of discharge. The proposed DE-LHP is evaluated using deionized water with filling volumes of 12, 16, 20, and 24 mL. The DE-LHP started working above 5 W regardless of the filling volume, and before the evaporator reached dry-out, the DE-LHP transferred heat loads of 10, 30, 35, and 55 W with filling volumes of 12, 16, 20, and 24 mL, respectively. At a heat load of 30 W, the evaporator section of the 20-mL filled LHP demonstrated a minimum thermal resistance of 0.274 KW -1 , while the condenser section exhibited a minimum thermal resistance of 0.372 KW -1 at a heat load of 35 W. The DE-LHP is found to be effective in transferring heat of 35 W to keep the module temperature below 60 °C. Based on these initial findings, it is suggested that incorporating the multi-evaporator LHP-based BTMS could be a feasible and efficient solution for the thermal management of battery modules/packs for electric vehicles.