Battery thermal management with thermal energy storage composites of PCM, metal foam, fin and nanoparticle

This study aims to analyze the thermal performance of the passive thermal management system (TMS) of the 18,650 lithium-ion battery with application of phase change materials (PCM). To improve performance of TMS, nanoparticles, fins and porous metal foam are used beside the PCM, and their effects on the system performance are compared. The local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model and non-Darcy law are considered to simulate the nano-PCM melting inside the porous media. Numerical results are validated through previously published experimental data and results are presented for two, 4.6 W and 9.2 W, heat generation rates. Sole effects of adding nanoparticles to the PCM, utilizing different numbers of fins, and application of the metal foam on the system performance are scrutinized. Results indicated that the porous-PCM composition performs more efficiently than the nano-PCM and the fin-PCM ones. In addition, ΔTavg, battery parameter is introduced and its variations are analyzed to judge about the effect of each technique to reduce the battery mean temperature. Using the porous-PCM led to 4–6 K reduction in the battery mean temperature with respect to the pure PCM. Moreover, for the porous-PCM composition a delay is observed in the PCM melting initiation time that can adversely affect the performance of battery TMS.