Battery thermal management is an integral component of designing an electric vehicle (EV). It helps ensure extreme battery temperatures do not present safety risks such as thermal runaway, which could potentially result in explosions.
Simulations in MATLAB can aid engineers in optimizing battery temperature conditions. Models can include cell-level effects, cooling plate connections and thermal paths leading to ambient temperatures.
Thermal Insulation
Thermal insulation is an integral component of battery thermal management, helping prevent heat transfer between different areas of the battery that have different temperatures, helping prevent temperature imbalances that lead to hot spots and shorten the battery’s lifespan. Furthermore, insulation helps decrease how much heat escapes to the atmosphere as a whole.
Heat can travel in three main ways: convection, conduction and radiation. Convection is the most prevalent way that heat travels; it works by moving from place to place via buoyancy. Conduction occurs when something hot physically touches something cold (conduction), with heat moving between objects via contact; radiation involves waves of electromagnetic energy as it travels back and forth across space.
Insulation aims to minimize these transfer processes so as to decrease heat loss from entering the ambient environment. This can be accomplished using materials with low thermal conductivity such as fiberglass or polyurethane that have excellent insulating properties while remaining lightweight for added convenience.
Studies have demonstrated that thermal encapsulation of battery packs can significantly enhance their performance in low temperature conditions, particularly during parking-driving cycles. Yet it remains unknown how insulating them affects overall energy use within normal driving cycles.
To do so, a series of simulations were run to assess the effects of thermal encapsulation on energy consumption in electric vehicles across varying ambient temperature conditions and with differing densities of insulation material insulators. As density of material increased, battery pack temperatures declined and fuel usage was reduced during regular driving cycle.
As EV manufacturers push the limits of performance, heat management becomes ever more of a priority. Laser technology is an indispensable resource to meet these cooling needs; not only can lasers assist with bonding battery cells to cooling plates but they can also create texture on TIM surfaces which enhances heat transfer as the surface area of battery components increases.
Liquid Cooling
As electric vehicle use expands globally, so does the demand for battery thermal management systems that can effectively transfer heat away from charging and discharging packs at high rates. High temperatures can damage batteries and shorten their lives while low temperatures reduce charging and discharging performance. Liquid cooling uses a mixture of liquids to regulate battery pack temperature; its advantages include compact design and ease of arrangement as well as 3500 times more effective cooling than air.
Engineers use battery thermal software to evaluate tradeoffs between these design factors and evaluate performance under various operating conditions. Their goal is to find a solution that ensures safe temperature range for battery operation over its lifespan in vehicle applications.
Engineers can utilize MATLAB and Simulink to develop battery thermal models in order to determine the most optimal cooling solution. The model allows engineers to assess various scenarios involving different coolants, discharging rates, configurations and temperature levels before optimizing battery cooling components based on performance, cost and complexity considerations.
Lithium-ion batteries face an array of temperature challenges that range from room temperatures to operating temperatures, presenting various problems such as accelerated aging and increased safety risks. Liquid cooling systems can help regulate this variability by moving heat from the battery into cooler fluid and then out through drains before returning it back into its source battery.
There have been various liquid-cooling solutions developed for electric vehicle batteries to maintain their temperature. Some systems employ cooling medium such as water or ethylene glycol directly against battery cells while others utilize thermally conductive films which absorb and disperse heat away. Any cooling method chosen must be compatible with both its cooling medium, battery cells, and insulation material used within them.
Air Cooling
Air cooling is an efficient method for keeping batteries cool. Fans draw air through the battery pack to extract heat and vent it out through exhaust ports, as well as facilitate faster charging due to not obstructing cells from reaching optimal operating temperatures. Though more costly than liquid, air cooling also offers safety and ease of maintenance benefits.
Air-cooled batteries generally have lower cell temperatures than liquid-cooled ones, yet can still experience thermal runaway, which could potentially destroy an entire battery pack. To protect against this risk, air-cooled batteries must be kept cool during charging and discharging to prevent overheating; insulation must also be added between each cell to stop air leaking in. However, this requires more complex design methods that reduce efficiency overall of their systems.
To optimize cooling performance of air-cooled battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) used by electric and hybrid vehicles (EV/HEV), optimizing structural designs of channels and plenums is of critical importance for increasing thermal performance. Air flow patterns influence convection properties within the BTMS which then affect thermal performance; studies have indicated that changing airflow patterns may increase its thermal efficiency.
One way of accomplishing this goal is through the use of a mode switcher, which enables BTMS operations in any one of three modes – J, U or Z – as required by temperature measurements 504. This switch is controlled by a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) 530 that analyzes temperature measurements 504, with any determination by MPC that Tmax exceeds threshold being sufficient cause to switch the mode switcher over to J mode and start operation immediately.
Adjusting air flow rate alone will not solve this issue; optimizing battery pack layout and spacing must also be addressed. Studies have revealed that proper spacing can reduce Tmax by as much as three K, as well as improve cooling efficiency by up to 51.9%. To further optimize cooling performance, additional strategies such as altering cooling channel designs and altering fan speeds should also be utilized.
Passive Cooling
Li-ion batteries produce significant heat that needs to be dissipated properly for maximum performance, longevity and safety. Otherwise, their performance can deteriorate quickly, reduce capacity rapidly and even experience thermal runaway. An adequate thermal management system must be in place in order to monitor and ensure that lithium battery temperatures stay safe at all times.
Passive cooling strategies for electric vehicles (EVs) are by far the most commonly employed; this form of heat transfer involves conduction through mounts and brackets as well as natural air circulation to remove battery heat. Passive cooling is both cost-efficient and energy-saving compared to its alternatives as it uses no energy from the vehicle to function; however, it cannot keep batteries operating at optimal operating temperatures for long distance driving or multiple rapid charges.
Active air cooling, which employs fans and forced air, provides an advanced form of battery thermal management. This technique ensures more consistent temperatures for batteries while remaining reliable over time. Unfortunately, however, designing an electric car with active air cooling in mind can be challenging due to limited chassis design for adequate airflow; for instance, cooling could become compromised by components like an electric motor, inverter, or other parts.
Active air cooling presents its own set of challenges when it comes to cooling batteries without interfering with other vehicle systems. A battery cooling system must be capable of handling temperature ranges associated with an EV’s electric motor, HVAC unit and other electrical systems without negatively affecting them in any way. Luckily, modern technology now permits thermal energy from other components to be directed back towards cooling batteries instead.
As part of its function, it is also critical for BTMSs to regulate maximum battery temperatures and minimise temperature differences among cells in a pack. A high battery temperature or disparity among cell temperatures can compromise performance, shorten lifespan and hamper charging/discharging power; in extreme cases they could even cause internal heating that poses fire or explosion risks.