A numerical analysis study on lithium-ion battery thermal management system using cold plate*

Nowadays, lithium-ion battery is widely used in Electric Vehicle because of its high-capacity and high-voltage. But there are still some drawbacks about batteries stability. The aim of our research is to find ideal cold plate options which differed the width and number of channels. In order to estimate the temperature distribution and heat transfer rate, MSMD – Newman P2D model in Ansys Fluent program is used. Prior to compare the heat transfer rate of battery surface temperature using differ cold plates, we calculate the surface temperature of battery (LiFePO4) at different discharge rates at 2C, 3C and 4C to explore the batteries characteristics. After that, we attach the two cold plates to batteries both sides (front and back) and estimate the heat transfer rate of battery surface which contacted with cold plate, the pressure drops between inlet and outlet of channels during discharge process. Also, we calculate j factor and f factor that appropriate for estimating cooling performance of cold plate. To confirm the most efficient cold plate options, trade-off between the heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drop is important also the relations between two factors (j factor, f factor).