Geometry-influenced cooling performance of lithium-ion battery

TL;DR

This study investigates how the geometry of lithium-ion batteries influences their thermal behavior and cooling performance under various cooling methods and discharge rates, using a validated 3D thermal model.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed 3D multi-partition thermal model to analyze the impact of battery geometry on cooling efficiency and temperature distribution.

Findings

Datum geometry (DG) has the lowest average temperature.

Large geometry (LG) exhibits the least temperature heterogeneity.

Small geometry (SG) cools faster across all methods.

Abstract

Battery geometry (shape and size) is one of the important parameters which governs the battery capacity and thermal behavior. In the dynamic conditions or during the operation, the performance of batteries become much more complex. Herein, the changes in thermal behavior of lithium-ion battery (LIB)by altering the geometry i.e., length to diameter ratio (l/d), is investigated. The geometries considered are named as large geometry (LG), datum geometry (DG) and small geometry (SG) with the l/d ratio of 5.25, 3.61, and 2.38, respectively. A three-dimensional (3D) multi-partition thermal model is adopted, and the numerical results are validated by the published experimental data. For three different cooling approaches such as radial, both-tab and mixed cooling, the average battery temperature and temperature heterogeneity are thoroughly examined considering the heat transfer coefficients (h) of50 and 100 W/m2K at discharge rates of 1, 2 and 3C. Amongst, the minimum average battery temperature is exhibited by DG, the minimum radial temperature heterogeneity is obtained from LG, and substantial outperformance in terms of faster cooling rate is identified for SG, irrespective of the cooling approach employed