Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

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Case Studies in Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/csite

Thermal modelling and characteristic evaluation of electric

vehicle battery system
Asif Afzal a, *, Abdul Razak Kaladgi a, R.D. Jilte b, **, Muhammad Ibrahim c,
Rahul Kumar d, M.A. Mujtaba e, Saad Alshahrani f, C. Ahamed Saleel f
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, P. A. College of Engineering (Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi), Mangaluru,
574153, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, 144411, India
c
School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190006, India
e
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
f
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, PO Box 394, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Thermal modelling of Li-ion battery system used in electric/hybrid electric vehicles is carried out.
Battery system The main highlight of this study is the numerical modelling of Li-ion battery using finite volume
Thermal analysis method with the adoption of realistic coupled heat and fluid flow process. Thermal characters of
Coolant flow
the battery system are analyzed with the change in parameters like flow Reynolds number,
Velocity
Heat flux
battery internal heat generation, the length to width ratio, and the conduction-convection related
Temperature parameter at the interface of battery and air. In detail analysis of maximum temperature, heat flux
variations, Nusselt number, friction coefficient, coolant temperature, and velocity distributions
are carried out. Finally, the effect of channel width formed between two parallel placed battery
cells is also carried. The numerical analysis performed reveals that the length to width ratio of
battery does not impact the thermal performance of battery. At lower Reynolds number, the
conduction-convection parameter plays a significant role in reduction of battery temperature
avoiding thermal stresses developed. Channel spacing has a prominent role in variation of battery
and coolant temperature. The battery surface temperature is largely affected by parameters
considered. However, it is at higher input of conduction-convection parameter, Reynolds number,
and channel spacing the thermal variation remains insignificant.

1. Introduction

The country today depends heavily on the availability of energy to meet day-to-day energy demands. As per the International
Energy Outlook 2019 [1], in the near future, global energy consumption will accelerate significantly, especially in all those countries
whose economic development rates are increasing. At the peak of the hill, is the deterioration of carbon fuels, the release of greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere and their impact on global warming. The implications of this would result in an energy shortage and
contamination of the atmosphere [1–5]. Renewable resources such as solar energy, hydel energy, tidal, alternative fuels, etc., can be

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: asif_mech@pace.edu.in, asif.afzal86@gmail.com (A. Afzal), rdjilte@gmail.com (R.D. Jilte).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2021.101058
Received 24 December 2020; Received in revised form 14 April 2021; Accepted 2 May 2021
Available online 21 May 2021
2214-157X/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

Nomenclature

Ar Aspect ratio of a battery cell

C Constant of Ar
L Length of battery cell m
k Thermal conductivity W/MK
lo Length of extra outlet fluid domain m
li Length of extra fluid domain m
h Convective heat transfer coefficient W/m2k
Lo Dimensionless length of extra outlet fluid domain
Li Dimensionless length of extra inlet fluid domain
Nu Nusselt number
qꞌꞌꞌ Volumetric heat generation W/m3
S‾q Dimensionless volumetric heat generation
Pr Prandtl number
Re Reynolds number
T Temperature
To Maximum allowable temperature of battery cell (k)
T‾ Non-dimensional temperature
u Velocity along the axial direction m/s
U Non-dimensional velocity along the axial direction
u∞ Free stream velocity m/s
v Velocity along the transverse direction m/s
p Pressure N/m2
P Non-dimensional pressure

Abbreviations
ANN Artificial neural network
BTMS Battery thermal management system
CFD Computational fluid dynamics
DOD Depth of discharge
FVM Finite volume method
FEM Finite element method
V Non-dimensional velocity along the transverse direction
w Half-width m
W Non-dimensional width
x Axial direction
X Non-dimensional axial direction
y Transverse direction
Y Non-dimensional transverse direction
Dimensionless length of extra inlet fluid domain Greek symbols
α Thermal diffusivity of fluid m2/s
ν Kinematic viscosity of fluid m2/s
ρ Density of fluid kg/m3
ζcc Conduction-convection parameter
Reynolds number Subscripts
avg Average
c center
f Fluid domain
m Mean
s Solid domain (battery cell)
∞ Free stream
HEVs Hybrid electric vehicles
LIB Lithium-ion battery
NCM type Nickel, Manganese and Cobalt type
EVs Electric vehicles
PCM Phase change material

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pursued to solve all these difficulties. The key issue for all these kinds of resources, however, is their non-uniform production of energy
[6]. Therefore, it becomes essential in sustaining their energy production by storing them in some form and it can be possible to
conserve such energy by using the battery system. Batteries accumulate energy in chemical form which can then be transformed into
different forms. The automotive industry is thus moving from traditional vehicles to EVs in many European states. In the next 10–20
years, EVs is projected to have a share of approximately 20–35% of the overall vehicle [7–9]. In areas such as transport and
communication, automotive, aviation, modern Li-ion batteries are commonly used. Among the different kinds of energy storage
systems, owing to the greater energy capability, energy density, wattage, long lifetime, and low self-discharge rate, lithium-ion is the
preferable option. Compared to traditional automobiles, HEVs (Hybrid electric vehicles) have a number of benefits. Since they use
small I.C engines with much less internal power losses, they can obtain greater operating performance. Regenerative braking is used in
HEVs to recover energy that is wasted in the form of heat when traditional vehicles brake. The HEV’s battery can store this captured
energy, which is particularly useful during the stop-start driving period of traditional busy traffic. HEVs need much less fuel than
traditional diesel engines while retaining comparable performance. This increased fuel efficiency lowers prices while also lowering the
quantities of hazardous gases emitted from the exhaust pipe. Fuel efficiency has improved [10–12].
These batteries have therefore attracted significant attention from the automotive and electrical sectors. High-capacity Li-ion
batteries are now being used to obtain the necessary power [13]. However, as it includes extremely energetic components and
combustible electrolyte solutions, factors such as aging, thermal runaway, increased price, and protection, still pose crucial problems.
Security is the primary concern among these. Various techniques such as safe exits, utilization of high temperature coefficient com­
ponents, inflammable & non-oxidant electrolyte additives, extra charge barriers etc, can greatly improve this concern [14–16].
High-capacity Li-ion batteries are now being used to obtain the necessary power [10]. However, as it includes extremely energetic
components and combustible electrolyte solutions, factors such as aging, thermal runaway, increased price, and protection, still pose
crucial problems. Security is the primary concern among these. Various techniques such as safe exits, utilization of high temperature
coefficient components, inflammable & non-oxidant electrolyte additives, extra charge barriers etc., can greatly improve this concern.
The two significant factors that will influence the performance of a battery system are peak temperature and temperature uniformity.
Favorable conditions for the operation of lithium-ion batteries between − 15 ◦ C and 40 ◦ C and a disparity in temperature between cells
should be approximately 5 ◦ C [17,18]. Therefore, for the safe operation of EVs with superior efficiency, an effective BTMS needs to be
developed. Increased battery temperature can cause thermal runways, electrolyte may leak into the environment, the battery size may
be expand causing structural damage, reduced battery performance, degraded life, etc. The method of thermal management comprises
of both cooling and heating process [19]. The weather conditions are much colder in nations such as the USA, Russia, Canada, etc. Such
circumstances seriously hinder diffusion rate of anode lithium ions, reduces electrolyte conductivity, electrolyte choking [20,21]. It
causes a rise in inner resistance and decrease in battery power. In such cases, the Li-ion battery needs to be preheated first even before
beginning of the process [22,23]. However, in Arab countries, extreme temperatures can also influence the efficiency of the Li-ion
battery. Moreover, due to atmospheric conditions, inner short circuits, overcharge and discharge cycles, the battery can also get
heated [24,25]. This can damage Li-ion battery elements to a greater extent and in some situations results in thermal runaway and even
fire, which is very deadly from a safety view point [26].
Therefore, BTMS plays an important role in the safe operation of EVs. A rectangular Li-ion battery model was studied by Panchal
et al. [27] and the heat generation rate was determined for various discharge rates and process parameters. They noticed a rise in the
rate of heat generation with an increment in discharge rates. They built an ANN model, further and forecasted other outcomes. They
also examined the distribution of the surface temperature of a superior Li-ion battery system at various discharge rates and observed a
rise in the variation of the surface temperature as the discharge rates were incremented [28]. Therefore, when the battery is subjected
to large charging and discharge cycles and extreme climatic conditions, BTMS becomes essential [29,30]. It has been shown that the
techniques of BTMS can be classified into different forms, such as air cooling, liquid cooling and PCM cooling system. Liquid cooling
requires additional mass, as compared to air cooling, this rises the complexity of the system. Furthermore, the problem of coolant
leakage and the considerable cost subsequently restrict it to a huge scale in EVs [31]. In case of PCM’s, the latent heat restoration and
the synchronization of the PCM system requires huge space, weight and high price [32–34]. Thus the air cooling is the easiest way of
retaining the temperature of the EV battery pack. In addition to this, it has many other structural benefits, such as flexibility, reduced
density and low expenses and therefore has received a lot of attention recently [35–37]. In general, air cooling is classified into two
types, namely artificial air convection and free air convection cooling [38].Artificial air convection is commonly used to preserve the
battery pack’s peak temperature and local temperature differential within the allowable limit [39,40].
To increase the thermal performance of the battery, Park [41] conducted a numerical simulation on five distinct airflow setups.
Based on conduction and convection resistance, he also examined the cooling aspect of the rechargeable battery. In another research,
Fan, Khodadadi and Pesaran [42] conducted a numerical analysis on HEVs using various cell configurations under forced convection
regime. They found that the flow rate of air and spacing between the channels play a major role in the battery system’s efficiency. They
found that for a given spacing, when flow rate is incremented, there is decrement in maximum temperature and temperature difference
between the battery cells. Similar variation was observed when channel spacing was increased keeping flow rate constant.
Mahamud and Park [43]. conducted a numerical study employing reciprocating air flow rate on a LIB system. They observed that in
comparison with single direction flow, the battery temperature difference reduces by seventy percent. In another numerical study,
Shahid and Agelin-Chaab [44] altered the position of the supplementary intake of the battery system. They placed the supplementary
intake at the top of the battery cells. A reduction in cell temperature of close to 10% and an increment in temperature uniformity of
about 40% were observed. In order to study the heat transfer behavior of an air-cooled NCM-type LIB, Wang et al. [45], conducted an
experimental study. They used a reverse air-flow cooling technique for uniform distribution of temperatures and minimized the
temperature fluctuation in each of the battery packs and observed a reasonable reversal duration of about 50% DOD (at Three C

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discharge rate) by considering the battery temperature threshold. In another analysis, a 3D Computational model was developed by
Wang et al. [46] to examine the variables influencing the cooling efficiency of forced convection air cooling on various battery pack
cell arrangements. The problem of temperature distribution homogeneity was also explored by placing the fans in multiple battery
module locations. For the cubic configuration of the battery module with fan placement at the head of the battery, they noticed the best
cooling output. They also reported the optimal arrangement of the channel for maximum battery efficiency. A simulation model of a
staggered lithium battery system was formulated by Lu et al. [47] to analyze the influence of spacing within channels and air velocity
on the battery’s thermal efficiency. They observed that when the air intake inlet or exit is placed at the top of the battery, the highest
cooling performance can be obtained. They also determined the ideal size of the channel to reduce the battery’s peak value. The
thermal performance of rectangular li-ion lithium batteries was investigated for an aggressive driving profile by Fan et al. [48]. A 3D
CFD system was developed and unsteady flow study was performed. Air was passed through the equally distributed channels as a
working fluid medium. They observed a drop in temperature when its flow rate is increased and spacing reduced. They also noticed
that temperature variations are primarily influenced by the direction of air flow. The flow direction should also be taken into account
in order to achieve a consistent temperature distribution.
From the literature [49–53], it is very much clear that to keep the operating temperature within the safe limits, maximum generated
heat from the battery has to be dissipated. Hence in this paper, novel air-based battery thermal management system design is proposed
which is used to dissipate the generated heat, so as to maintain safe operating temperature in the battery. The coupling of heat transfer
from battery to the surrounding flowing air is considered where the temperature and heat flux are continuous. This realistic condition
of coupled heat transfer for a parallelly placed heat generating Li-ion battery gives a much closer analysis of the temperature distri­
bution on solid and fluid media. The performance of the battery thermal management system is evaluated in terms of the thermal
characteristics of the Li-ion batteries in the battery pack. The research design is intended for use in future EVs and other similar
vehicles.

Fig. 1. The symmetric battery (prismatic cell) and coolant flow domain considered for computational analysis along with boundary conditions.

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2. Methodology

An effective simulation model is created for the detailed evaluation of the coupled thermal behavior of the battery packs and
coolant by employing the continuity of heat flux boundary condition at the hetero junction. Fig. 1 gives an illustration of the problem
geometry chosen for the present conjugate analysis of the battery packs along with the coordinate systems. The battery system contains
large number of battery packs. As the battery cells in the battery system are repetitive, so parallel channel formed by two battery cells
are considered here for the analysis. Furthermore, due to geometric and thermal symmetries and to reduce the computational and
memory requirements, only the right half section of the battery channel is taken into account for the evaluation of temperature and
other important parameters (Fig. 1). A rectangular shape battery cell is chosen here for study. The height of this battery cell is rep­
resented as ‘L’ and thickness as ‘2Ws’. While charging/discharging cycles, heat is produced in the battery cells due to which the
temperature rises. To keep the temperature within the permissible limit, this heat is first conducted along the cell and then dissipated
from the right cell surface by forced convection to the neighboring fluid that flows over it. In relation to the height of the battery the
cell is comparatively thin [Ws ≪ L], suggesting axial conduction only along the battery cell. Some presumptions are indeed chosen to
make the governing PDE solvable, without compromising the accuracy. For instance, the heat produced in the battery cells is assumed
uniform at the rate of q (W/m3) [54]. The battery cell’s left and upper surfaces are adiabatic. Constant thermo-physical properties of
the fluid (air) are assumed. The investigation carried out is assumed to be in a steady state [55,56]. The fluid flow across the battery is
viewed to be laminar because of low fluid velocity [57,58]. The complicated chemical transformations that happen in the cells
accelerate the production of heat and are difficult to simulate. Battery cells containing few layers of cathode, anode, and partition
layers are micrometer-sized as compared to its length and thickness. The thermal effects are therefore constrained to a 2D model, to
reduce computing cost and time and keep away from additional intricate details in imitating a practical 3-D model. Between the
channels created by parallel rectangular battery packs, the fluids flow and transmits the heat from outside the pack. The heat produced
inside the battery pack depends on the conditions of demand and loading. Depending on its indicated C-rate, it varies widely between
68.7 × 103 W m− 3 to 2 × 103 Kw m− 3 [54]. There is a huge variation in the thermal conductivity of the cell and it ranges from 0.03 to
40 W mK− 1 [59].
Keeping in view of representing the physical model of the battery element presented above into a mathematical model, the
following additional approximations and assumptions are made:

(i) The material of the battery element is homogeneous and isotropic.

(ii) The thermal conductivity of the battery element is independent of temperature.
(iii) The temperature gradient normal to the x–y-plane is negligibly small.
(iv) The flow is steady, laminar, incompressible and two dimensional.
(v) The coolant is Newtonian and viscous.
(vi) The thermo-physical properties of the coolant are constant.

The cell’s temperature variation is obtained by solving the steady-state equation of conduction by including the volumetric heat
generation term. While the temperature variation in the fluid domain is determined by solving the steady-state energy equation, taking
into account, the continuity of heat flux and temperature boundary condition at the junction of the solid and fluid parts. In detailed
boundary conditions adopted are shown in Fig. 1 (d).
The energy conservation equation in the battery cells is given by Ref. [11]:

ks ∇2 T + qm = 0 (1)
The governing equations affecting the heat transfer and fluid flow namely, the continuity equation, Navier– Stokes equations, and
energy equation, that are presented in references like Bejan [60] are given as
∇u = 0 (2)

1
(u∇u) = − ∇p + μ∇2 u (3)
ρ

u∇T = α∇2 T (4)

The above equations are normalized using various normalizing parameters described below
′′′
q ws 2 T − T∞ li lo
Sq = , C = 4Ar2 , T = , Li = , Lo =
ks (To − T∞ ) T0 − T∞ L L
x u v p L
X= , U= , V= , P= , Ar =
L u∞ u∞ ρu∞ 2 2ws
(5)
y y wf k f [ws ]
Ys = , Yf = , W f = , ζcc = ,
ws L L ks L
u∞ L V
Re = , Pr =
V α

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

After substituting and making some modifications, we get the final set of non-dimensional form of governing equations given by
Ref. [61]:

∂2 T s ∂2 T s
+ C 2 + CSq = 0 (6)
∂X 2 ∂Y

∇U = 0 (7)

1 2
U∇U = − ∇P + ∇U (8)
Re

1
U∇T f = ∇2 Tf (9)
RePr
Normalized governing equations given above are elliptic and thus warrant specification of boundary conditions on all four
boundaries. In the present problem, the solid battery cells forms the solid boundary and the remaining three boundaries are open (or
free) boundaries. In consideration of the enlarged area selected, the left boundary consists of two components, the 1st component,
which is the battery cell itself and the 2nd part is the enlarged length. The left boundary, therefore has a solid boundary that is followed
by an open boundary.
The boundary conditions in mathematical form are given as

∂T s
Y = 0; 0 ≤ X ≤ 1, = 0,
∂Y
Y = 1; 0 ≤ X ≤ 1, Ts = Tf
(10)
X = 0; 0 ≤ X ≤ 1, Ts = 0
∂T s
X = 1; 0 ≤ X ≤ 1, =0
∂X
The computational domain, shown in Fig. 1, is extended in transverse (Y) direction in order that the heat transfer and fluid flow
constraints, the development of vortices during the interaction of the fluid with the lower part, the diffusive impacts of low Prandtl
liquids, all are captured fully. Its height is chosen as li at the inlet and lo at the exit, based on a few preliminary studies performed. This
was done to enforce physically meaningful additional boundary conditions [62].

∂T f ∂U
Y = 1; − Li ≤ X ≤ 0 and L ≤ X ≤ Lo = 0, = 0, V=0
∂Y ∂Y

∂Ts 1 ∂T f
Y = 1; 0 ≤ X ≤ L, = , U = 0, V=0
∂Y ζ∞ ∂Y
( )
Y= 1 = Wf ; − Li ≤ X ≤ (L + Lo ),
∂T f
= 0, V = 0,
∂U
=0 (11)
∂Y ∂Y

X = − Li ; 0 ≤ Y ≤ 1, T s = 0, U = 1, V=0

∂T s ∂U
X = L + Lo ; 0 ≤ Y ≤ 1, =0 = 0, V=0
∂X ∂Y

2.1. Numerical solution

The dimensionless governing equations [Eq. (6)- (9)] are coupled nonlinear PDE’s that are elliptic in nature. Therefore, an effective
numerical method has to be employed to solve these equations. FVM is employed in this article to solve these governing equations in
solid and fluid environments. Two steps are used to achieve the solution of the equations. In the first point, by applying FVM, all the
governing equations are discretized into algebraic equations. These algebraic equations are solved using the iterative technique of
Gauss-Seidel and Thomas algorithm, in the second step. On all variables (U, V, P, T), very strict convergence requirements of 1*10− 6
have been implemented. The 2nd order FDM was used to discretize the equation in the solid domain. Under relaxation (relaxation
parameter = 0.5), was imposed on all variables to obtain the converged value. As the equations of continuity and momentum are
combined in nature, these are solved simultaneously [10,63,64].
The temperature variation in the solid and fluid region is determined by combining the conduction equation and energy equation
using the coupled boundary condition at the interaction surface. To combine velocity and pressure, SIMPLE algorithm is employed.
Staggered grids are used for this purpose. Using the Gauss-Seidel iterative algorithm and Thomas algorithm, the U* and V* velocity
parts that arrived when using SIMPLE algorithm, are solved. The pressure correction Pꞌ equation extracted using the continuity
equation, is solved by using SOR method, after calculating U* and V*. To correct the assumed U*, V* and P*, the corrected pressure Pꞌ

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

determined to satisfy the continuity equation, is further used. Additionally, the solid region and fluid region temperature data are
determined by solving conduction and energy equations concurrently [65,66]. For the estimation of different derivatives existing in
various boundary conditions, the Lagrangian 3-point formula is used and the Simpson’s 1/3 rule is employed for conducting in­
tegrations that are required in the calculations. Simple flow chart to represent the steps-wise procedure followed for carrying out the
computational analysis is shown in Fig. 2a.

2.2. Grid sensitivity test and FVM code validation

With respect to the discretization of the simulation domain, it is assured that there are densely packed grids between its upper and
lower surfaces along the battery cells, whereas coarser grids will be appropriate in the enlarged domain in the perpendicular direction.
In the direction opposite, close to the surface of the cell and fluid junction, it is necessary to have finer grids, as the gradients of velocity
and temperature will be steeper there. While coarser uniform grids are kept in the fluid region sufficiently away from the battery cell.
A thorough grid sensitivity test was conducted to arrive at the optimal grid size required to discretize the computational domain,
prior to taking up the parametric analysis relevant to the current problem. The goal of the study was to determine the optimum values
for the number of grids in the solid domain and the number of grids in the fluid domain. Therefore, in the current grid sensitivity
examination, this has been done in two steps (Step 1: grid sensitivity analysis in solid domain, Step 2: grid sensitivity analysis in fluid
domain). Mesh structures considered are 72 × 92, 82 × 122 and 122 × 122 mesh sizes in the solid domain and 32 × 82, 52 × 122, 62 ×
162 grid sizes in the fluid domain, respectively. The sensitivity of the non-dimensional temperature was tested with regard to the
different sizes of the grid. The best feasible values for the number of grids in the solid domain and for the fluid domain were 122 × 122
and 62 × 162 respectively and all the results of the current study were obtained using these values [61,67,68].
Tracking the convergence of residuals with executions is one of the important parts of FVM analysis. It explicitly assesses the
discrepancy (error) that is present in the solution of concurrent equations. The convergence of velocity residuals for advancing iter­
ations is also checked. Residuals are reduced significantly from a large value to a very minimal value. There can technically be zero
residuals; however, the smaller the residuals, the more precise the answer would be. Therefore, to achieve greater accuracy, error less
error than 10− 6 is obtained in this study. It is already stated that a computer program was developed in C to address the current
problem. With the experimental and simulation data available, the validation of the fluid flow and heat transfer data relating to the

Fig. 2. (a) Flow chart to represent the steps-wise procedure for numerical analysis (b) validation in present FVM work with past experimental, and
(b) analytical and FEM analysis.

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

present problem was carried out. Such works mainly concentrate on the battery cells temperature investigations. FEM and analytical
method were used by Chalise et al. [69] for their battery cells temperature investigation. And an experimental study was carried out by
Richter et al. to find the thermal conductivity and temperature contours in the lateral direction. Both of these works are found to be
useful in validating the current FVM code created. Their work guides in the axial and lateral direction in the temperature profile. The
work of Chalise et al. [69] is similar to the present work since they considered the conjugate condition at the pack and coolant junction,
while, Richter et al. [8] considered only a single battery pack for his experimental investigation. Each of these works are proven to be
helpful in validating the current FVM code implemented. Also, their work guides to understand the nature of temperature profiles
along the vertical and transverse directions. The research of Chalise et al. [69] is similar to the present research work because they
considered the conjugate condition at the pack and coolant intersection, whereas Richter et al. [70] used only a single battery cell for
the experimental investigation. The simulation results from the FVM program and the existing studies are displayed in Fig. 2 b, c for
various dimensionless heat production rates. The outcomes of Richter et al. [70] and Chalise et al. [7] are observed to be very close to
the results from the present FVM code, though it is possible to observe minor differences in the results because of different techniques
implemented for the study. Now at this point, the validation of the FVM code is established [71–74].

3. Results and discussions

Thermal management of heat generating Li-ion batteries needs a special attention for their better performance, high efficiency,
long life and safer operation. The increasing demand for Li-ion batteries in electronic devices and electric vehicles had enticed many
researchers to investigate the problems pertinent to overheating of lithium ion batteries which generally occur due to poor thermal
management systems [43,75]. A numerical analysis of thermal behavior in prismatic battery cell generating uniform heat during the
operation is carried out. The conjugate heat transfer condition is considered at the cell and fluid interface where the temperature and
heat flux is continuous. Air is the cooling medium carrying heat from the cell surface. The air flow is taken as laminar and a steady state
condition is assumed. The effect of important working parameters like volumetric heat generation (S‾q), conduction –convection
parameter (ζcc), Reynolds number (Re), Aspect ratio (Ar), and spacing between the cells (W‾f) are studied in detail in this work. The
range of these parameters are taken into account from different sources [41,76–78] related to modern batteries and are
non-dimensionalized using appropriate terms as mentioned earlier. It is important to note that the default values of parameters are S‾q
= 0.5, ζcc = 0.06, Re = 750, Ar = 10 and W‾f = 0.1 unless otherwise stated. Variation in temperature distribution, average friction
coefficient (Cf, avg), average Nusselt number (Nuavg), mean fluid temperature, heat removed from the lateral surface is discussed with
mainly change in Re and W‾f are analyzed in detail.

Fig. 3. Temperature distribution profiles of the battery varying axially at different ζcc and Re.

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

Fig. 4. Temperature of coolant decreasing with ζcc and Re.

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

3.1. Effect of Re and ζcc

Fig. 3 (a) depicts the change in temperature distribution with increase in Re. The other parameters are fixed at their default values
mentioned previously. It is easy to understand from the figure that increases in Re cause’s reduction in temperature. Initially, more
drop in temperature is obtained and this becomes nearly insignificant at higher Re. At higher Re the heat transfer coefficient is high and
hence more heat removal from the surface of battery causing decrease in temperature. Also, a thick thermal boundary layer and hence
increased heat transfer results from an increased velocity for higher Re flows. As a result, it’s simple to observe that as Re rises, an
enhancement in the heat transfer takes place with simultaneous decrease in the temperature of the battery cells. But there exists an
upper limiting value of Re above which no decrease in temperature is obtained and will demand more pumping power. If Re is reduced
below 250, the temperature increase will be more sever and thermal runaway situation will arise. Hence Re should not be reduced
below its lower limiting value. Similarly, if the spacing is also increased or reduced simultaneously with Re the effect will be much
similar to that shown in Fig. 3 (b). For higher Re no effect of spacing will be observed and for lower Re the effect of spacing will be
predominant.
In Fig. 3 (b) the temperature of battery at its center increasing from bottom to top axially is shown. Effect of Re and ζcc from 0.06 to
0.1 is analyzed here. The flow Re is restricted to 250, 750, and 1250 as shown in Fig. 3 (b)–(d) respectively. Other Re is neglected to just
understand the only major differences. First of all, it should be noted that with the upward axial increasing height the temperature
sharply increases and reaches highest at the top location. In the initial height of 0.2 the gradient is very steep and later they become
consistent and less significant with increasing height. As the coolant comes first in contact with the bottom of the battery the tem­
perature of the pack is hence very low and efficiently gives of the heat due to large temperature difference between the battery and
coolant flowing laterally upwards as shown in Fig. 1 (a) and (b). As the coolant carries more and more heat in the streamwise direction
the temperature difference reduces becoming less efficient. Hence temperature is high at the top position as compared to the bottom
position. Also, it can be noted from Fig. 3b that with the increasing in the spacing, the temperature of the battery cells decreases. This is
because with increasing in spacing, the quantity of air moved will be high, and hence carries more heat at higher spacing and providing
better cooling facility in the battery system. As air is the coolant the thermal conductivity is less and hence the heat removal from the
battery along the flow direction becomes lesser till it reaches the trailing edge.
Then, when the parameters representing the conductivity ratio ζcc is increased from 0.06 to 0.1 is increased the effect is clearly seen
in Fig. 3 (a). The increasing ζcc denotes the increase in thermal conductivity of coolant makes the thermal boundary to grow more as
the thermal diffusivity is more pronounced. Hence the heat easily gets conducted and then convected to the coolant. As a result, the
temperature of battery pack drops significantly. In addition, as conjugate conditions exist at the interface, the temperature in the
coolant domain decreases, lowering its mean temperature at the exit. However, Continuous increase of ζcc puts a restriction on the heat
removal from battery due to heat generation kept constant in the process. Due to this a increase in ζcc will ot have any advantage
further. We have to look for other factors that may affect it. However, the temperature drops at Re 250 is more compared to Re 750
which is even further less at Re 1250 as shown in Fig. 3 (c) and (d). The fact for these Re affect is increased velocity which overall
reduces the temperature of battery even at lower ζcc. it is figured out that at high Re the effect of ζcc is negligible and vice versa.
Therefore, increasing only one parameter is feasible while increasing both causes lesser affects. If at Re 2000 the values of ζcc are
increased we may get negligible effect on the temperature of the battery. Similarly, at Re 100 the increase in ζcc causes a huge impact of
the temperature and also the drops will be much significant. By increasing Re from 250 to 750 we see a landmark drop in temperature
while increasing to 1250 has caused marginal effect. Therefore, the effect of ζcc is less at higher Re while at lower Re it will be
maximum. The two-dimensionality nature in the solid region of the battery can be easily observed in these Fig. 3 (c) and (d) and at
higher ζcc these two dimensionality effects in the solid domain are much more exaggerated indicating less loss in accuracy by
considering only the two-dimension model of the battery without considering the complicated three-dimensional battery model.
Fig. 4 illustrates the temperature profiles of the coolant for increasing flow Re and ζcc. the temperature profiles plotted are taken at
the vertical center of the battery lateral surface where the heat is convicted by the coolant. The nature of temperature decrement is
similar for Re and ζcc as discussed previously i.e., a decreasing trend. We can see that the temperature decreases largely along the
channel width. The thermal gradients are considerable near the surface of the battery. As we move along the downstream, the gra­
dients are lower. For larger distances away from the battery lateral surface and at the channel center seem thermal boundary being
mixed as the coolant temperature is above the inlet free stream temperature. With the increment in ζcc the thermal gradient becomes
less sharp indicating the prominent heat removal from the battery surface as the heat effectively diffuses into the coolant medium
faster.
The coolant temperature reduces sharply with ζcc and also Re as it is evident from Fig. 4 (a)–(c). When the temperature values are
compared in these figures it clearly indicates a significate reduction at Re = 250 to Re = 750. However, the reduction from Re = 750 to
Re = 1250 is low. The increased velocity of coolant causes faster heat removal from the battery and hence the reduction is obvious. But
just mere increase in Re has restrictions in heat removal at fixed heat generation. But it is seen that the gradients are significantly steep
near the wall at Re 750 and are slightly steeper at Re 1250. This again indicates no increase in gradients with increase in Re because of
restriction in heat conduction. It is worth noticing that at Re 750 the temperature is slightly above the free stream temperature
indicating thermal boundary layer development. While at Re 1250 the temperature at the channel center has touch the axis indicating
still the thermal boundary layer has not developed. With increasing in the spacing, the quantity of coolant flowing between the heat-
generating plates increases. Hence more heat removal from the battery cell takes place and the temperature of the battery cells de­
creases. However, there is an upper limit to it.

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

3.2. Maximum temperature variation, heat flux and heat removed from the surface of cell

Fig. 5 (a) depicts the decrease in maximum temperature of cell at different Re and spacing between cells. As understood from the
previous results that the heat dissipation is least at low Re and at higher spacings. The maximum temperature for fixed S‾q, ζcc, and Ar
decreases with increase in Re (shown in Fig. 5 a), as the heat dissipation rate from the cell increases due to increased heat transfer
capability of coolant. The effect of spacing on maximum temperature is quite interesting to conclude. When the spacing between cells
is reduced and at fixed Re the velocity of coolant increases causing decrease in temperature of cell. But this is not true in all situations,
hence when the spacing is reduced below a certain limit the maximum temperature in the cell increases and sometimes may cross the
allowable limit. This situation leads to thermal runaways and hence should be avoided. It should be noted that the temperature
distribution is least at lowest spacing and then increases with increase in spacing. Here the result obtained in Fig. 8 is slightly in
disagreement with this and the reason is explained as follows. The temperature distribution plotted in Fig. 5 was along the transverse
direction of cell at X = 0.5. But the maximum temperature obtained is at the top corner of the cell i.e. at X = 1.0 which is also reported
by Bai et al. in Ref. [79]. Hence, when the temperature is noted axially from X = 0.5 to X = 1.0 at W‾f = 0.04, the temperature obtained
is higher. The behavior of maximum temperature is different at different spacing but remains same for all Re. When Re = 250 and W‾f is

Fig. 5. Maximum temperature and flux variations of battery for change in different working parameters.

11
A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

increased from 0.04 to 0.14, an increase and decrease in maximum temperature is obtained. Now let us look in this way: When W‾f is
decreased from 0.08 to 0.04 the maximum temperature sharply increases up to a Re < 750. On the other hand, when W‾f is increased
from 0.12 to 0.14 the maximum temperature slightly decreases. When Re is increased beyond 750, at all spacings the maximum
temperature continuously drops and the difference in this maximum temperature remains same.
Now it can be concluded that for W‾f < 0.10 and Re < 750 the maximum temperature increases and for W‾f > 0.12 and Re < 750 the
maximum temperature decreases. Whereas with W‾f from 0.04 to 0.14 and Re ≥ 750 the maximum temperature reduces. Therefore,
there exists an optimum spacing between the cells at low Re below which maximum temperature increases and beyond which the
maximum temperature reduces. Contrarily, for higher Re with increase in spacing the maximum temperature increases and remains
nearly same beyond a certain higher spacing between cells.
The heat flux from the surface of the cell for different Re is shown n Fig. 5 (b) while the spacing is also fixed. The heat flux at the
bottom is nil and sharply increases close to the leading edge and then remains constant throughout the axial direction. It is seen that for
all Re the heat flux overlaps and hence is independent of Re. The prime reason behind this is the decrease in temperature at all positions
in transverse direction. The temperature gradient ∂T‾s/∂Ys at the interface reduces proportionally with increases in Re while the
thermal conductivity of cell is constant. Hence no change in heat flux is obtained for different Re. Fig. 5 (c) depicts the surface
temperature variation for different Re. the surface temperature of cell at the interface of cell and coolant increases sharply slightly near
the leading edge and then smoothly increase up to the trailing edge. The nature of surface temperature for different Re is monotonous
with no difference in temperature at the leading edge and maximum difference at the trailing edge. A similar inference can be made for
surface temperature with increase in Re. Surface temperature cannot be reduced above an upper limit of Re.
Table 1 provides the amount of heat removed from the lateral surface of the cell when S‾q = 0.5, Re varied from 250 to 1750 and
W‾f from 0.04 to 0.12. As the Ar is kept fixed at 10, the lateral dimension is predominant over the width of cell. Hence the heat removed
from the surface of the cell is maximum i.e. the amount of heat removed out of heat generation S‾q = 0.5 in cell more than 0.48 in all
cases mentioned in Table 1. A minimum of 96% of heat generated is removed from the lateral surface as the coolant carries this heat
away at Re = 250 and W‾f = 0.14. A maximum of 96.93% of heat generated is removed at Re = 2000 and W‾f = 0.04. The remaining
heat is removed from the bottom of the cell and negligible heat is removed from the top of cell as adiabatic condition is assumed. It is
noteworthy that maximum heat can be removed at lower spacing and at higher Re but demands higher pumping power for coolant.

3.3. Friction coefficient and nusselt number variation

In Fig. 6 (a) the variation of average friction coefficient (Cf, avg) with increase in spacing from 0.04 to 0.12 and Re from 250 to 1750
is shown. Cf, avg is highest at low Re and for all spacings and it reduces with increase in spacing and simultaneous increase in Re. It is
quite easily observable that at W‾f = 0.04, with increase in Re from 250 to 750 there is a huge drop in Cf, avg and then decreases
smoothly with increase in Re from 750 to 2000. This behavior of Cf, avg is monotonous at all spacing and Re.
Mathematically, as Cf, avg is inversely proportional to Re, any increase in Re will cause a reduction in Cf, avg. Physically, at a fixed
spacing, when the Re is low the boundary layer thickness grows rapidly and hence causes sharp increase in velocity at the center of
channel. Thus, velocity gradient ∂U/∂Y at the wall will be high causing more wall shear stress. This leads to increased Cf, avg at low Re.
On the other hand, if Re is increased the boundary layer thickness sticks close to the wall i.e., suppressed and is thinner causing less
velocity gradient. Therefore, reduced wall shear stress and Cf, avg, which also causes reduced pressure drop. If the spacing is slightly
increased, the boundary layer growth moves away from the leading edge along the stream wise direction and causes further reduction
in velocity gradient hence decrease in Cf, avg. It is important to notice that, the decrease in Cf, avg reduces with increase in Re as well as
increase in spacing. Hence, at higher Re and spacing the Cf, avg remains almost same. The preceding observation is in agreement with
the thermal and momentum diffusivity nature of fluid flow of gases. It can be concluded that Cf, avg is minimum at low Re and higher
spacing, and at higher Re and lower spacing.
The average Nusselt number (Nuavg) variation is shown in Fig. 6 (b). Nuavg increases with increase in Re and decreases with spacing.
The fact behind this increase in Nuavg with increase in Re at fixed spacing is that, coolant flow velocity increases causing increase in
convective heat transfer. At lower spacing between the cells, and at fixed Re the flow velocity sharply increases as the criteria of
continuity of mass should be satisfied. On further increase in Re at lower spacing Nuavg also increases. Hence increase in Nuavg is
obtained at lower spacing and at all flow Re. And when the spacing between cells increases at fixed Re the coolant flow velocity re­
duces. Hence, at minimum spacing, the heat transfer coefficient of coolant increases carrying more heat away from the surface of cell
which causes reduced temperature in cell. It is also evident from Fig. 6 (b) that with increase in spacing the Nuavg decreases at all Re but
this reduction is negligible at higher spacings. Hence it can be concluded that there exists an upper limit of spacing between the cells
above with the decrease in Nuavg is negligible.

Table 1
Heat removed (Q,r) from the lateral surface of the cell at different Re and W‾f.
Re 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750

W‾f = 0.04 0.481127 0.482598 0.483306 0.483786 0.484132 0.484403 0.484642

W‾f = 0.06 0.480698 0.482244 0.483085 0.49079 0.484018 0.484315 0.484556
W‾f = 0.08 0.480394 0.482102 0.482965 0.483539 0.483948 0.484286 0.48451
W‾f = 0.10 0.480193 0.482027 0.482951 0.483519 0.483958 0.484273 0.484504
W‾f = 0.12 0.480114 0.48197 0.482916 0.483531 0.483926 0.484244 0.484511

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

Fig. 6. Cf, avg and Nuavg effected by spacing and Re.

Fig. 7 (a) shows the temperature of coolant at the central axis of channel with increasing channel length axially upwards with
increase in Re. We see that at Re 250 the temperature of coolant rises linearly with the channel length axially. As the thermal boundary
layers extend from both the battery lateral surface normally, they mix up and get fully developed close to leading edge which is well
known fact. As it moves upward, the coolant absorbing heat from battery rises in temperature. For increasing Re the boundary layer
mix away from the leading edge, hence the temperature rise is low. For Re 1250 and above the thermal boundary layer does not seem to
get mixed indicating an external flow type. In Fig. 7 (b), the variation of axial velocity at the center of channel with increasing length is
shown for increasing Re. At the leading edge, the velocity gradient is steep for Re 250 to 750. For remaining Re the central velocity is
less steep and continuously increasing indicating the shift of fully developed flow away from the leading edge. At lower Re the
boundary layer is wider because of which the flow develops close to leading edge.

3.4. Coolant mean temperature (T‾f, m) and axial velocity distribution

The variation of mean temperature of coolant fluid (T‾f, m) and its axial velocity along the channel length for different parameters is
shown in Fig. 8. The change in T‾f, m observed from Fig. 8a-8 d is due to change in temperature distribution in cell. With increase in
heat generation S‾q, the heat carried by the coolant also increases and remains similar in trend at all S‾q as shown in Fig. 8a. Due to
increase in S‾q in cell the rise in temperature of cell causes more amount of heat being dissipated to surrounding medium when the
other parameters are fixed at their default values. When ζcc is increased from 0.06 to 0.10 the temperature of solid cell reduces as
explained from Fig. 4 and hence the T‾f, m also reduces as shown in Fig. 8 b. If ζcc is increased continuously the reduction in T‾f, m
reduces and can be deduced that this will become negligible for increase in ζcc beyond 0.10. A very similar kind of trend is obtained for
increase in T‾f, m as shown in Fig. 8 c. Here also it can be concluded that there exists an upper value of Re beyond which the decrease in
T‾f, m remains negligible. Finally, when Ar is changed from 10 to 30 the variation in T‾f, m is found to be overlapping each other as
shown in Fig. 8 d. Hence Ar does not has any effect on variation of T‾f, m, as the temperature variation in cell does not get effected. At
fixed S‾q in cell the volumetric rate of heat generation remains constant for all Ar hence the effect is found negligible.
The fluid coolant U velocity distribution contour along the axial direction for different spacings is shown in Fig. 8 (e). The flow and
thermal parameters considered are at their default values as mentioned earlier. It is clearly evident from the figure that at lower
spacing the shear effects are predominant near the cell wall and with increase in spacing these effects penetrate along the downstream.
Another observation made is occurrence of maximum velocity near the leading edge of cell wall at lower spacing. Any small increase in
spacing between the cells causes significant shift of maximum velocity along the stream wise direction away from the leading edge. The
preceding observation demonstrated from Fig. 8 (a)–(d) is in agreement with the U velocity contours obtained.

13
A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

Fig. 7. (a) Axial fluid temperature at the center of channel (b) Central axial velocity variation along channel length with increase in Re between
the cells.

4. Conclusion

The thermal behavior of modern electric vehicle Li-ion battery cells depends on the working parameters and under few circum­
stances the temperature distribution during charging and discharging crosses its maximum permissible limit. This situation leads to
critical temperature in battery cell consequently resulting in thermal runaway. In this present work, a realistic conjugate heat transfer
analysis of parametric effect on thermal and fluid flow behavior of battery thermal management system is carried. The battery and
coolant interface is considered as conjugate condition where the heat is removed. The parameters like Reynolds number (Re), con­
duction –convection parameter (ζcc), spacing between the cells (W‾f), volumetric heat generation (S‾q), and Aspect ratio (Ar) is
performed. The conclusion drawn from the analysis of these parameters adopting the above conditions is as follows:

• There is an upper limit for Re above which the temperature in the fluid domain cannot be further decreased. There is also a lower
limit of Re below which the temperature of the battery element may exceed the threshold limit and hotspots may takes place.
• Maximum temperature of cell at Re < 750 increases sharply below W‾f < 0.10 and decreases for W‾f > 0.10. Maximum temperature
of cell increases for Re ≥ 750 at all W‾f.
• Ar does not have any effect on change in mean fluid temperature when the other parameters are fixed.
• Maximum amount of heat generated in cell is removed from its lateral surface at all Re and W‾f.
• The effect of ζcc is more pronounced at lower Re and less significant at higher Re. Similarly, the role of Re at lower ζcc is significant
while at high ζcc is less significant.
• The spacing between the channel also plays a promienent role in the variation of temperature uniformity of battery and its
maximum temperature.
• The use of appropriate Re and W‾f will prevent thermal runaway of the battery system.
• Implementing the suitable values of Re, ζcc, S‾q and W‾f results in improved temperature uniformity inside the battery cell.
• W‾f has a significant effect on pressure drop, and pressure drop decreases with increase in Reynolds number increases.
• The ζcc has a substantial effect on reducing battery cell temperature, however its range must be carefully selected for a fixed value
of Re, and S‾q.
• For optimization of these thermal, fluid flow, and geometric properties, soft computing techniques like Genetic algorithm, Fuzzy
logic, Particle Swarm optimization etc. should be employed.

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

Fig. 8. Variation in mean temperature of fluid (T‾f, m) and velocity for change in different parameters.

Author statement

Asif Afzal: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Abdul Razak Kaladgi: Inves­
tigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing. R. D. Jilte: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. N
Satish: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Rahul Kumar: Writing – review & editing. MA Mujtaba:
Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Saad Alshahrani: Writing – review & editing. C. Ahamed Saleel: Formal analysis, Writing –
review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia for funding
this work through General Research Project under Grant No: GRP/149/42.

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A. Afzal et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 26 (2021) 101058

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