Effect of inlet condition on flow distribution in a Water-

Cooling Plate of 18650 Li-ion battery pack

Presenter: Mr. Raksit Nanthatanti (Master degree student)

Advisors: Prof. Dr. Jarruwat Charoensuk
Dr.-Ing. Manop Masomtob
Prof. Dr. Shuichiro Hirai

1
 1 Introduction

2 Objective

Today’s Outlines
3 Methodology & Simulation

5
4 Result & Discussion
Conclusion&Future work
2
 1 Introduction

• Increasing temperature is typically the most crucial

factor affecting battery performance and battery life.

• The battery's life will shorten as its temperature rises.

• Thermal runaway may be triggered, especially at

higher temperatures.

• BTMS needed and limiting the operating temperature

of lithium-ion batteries to a range at around 25–40 °C

The battery life as the function of lithium-ion battery

temperature

3
3
 1 Introduction[cont.]
Negative Aluminum Plate
•Liquid coolants have a high convective heat removal rate
due to higher density and heat capacity compared to air
Inlet

•A liquid cooling system is more compact than an air

system because can save up to 40% of separate power
compared to the fans required for air cooling.

•Due to its practical design and efficient cooling, The

liquid cooling system also needs more attention because Symmetric Plane Outlet
liquid leaks and corrosion
The geometry of the cooling channel design with coolant
liquid inside

4
 2 Objectives
• To investigate flow parameters that vary in the cooling channel, such as the mass flow rate and the
temperature difference between the inlet and outlet.
• The flow visualization with various inlet velocity and inlet temperature of cooling water
• The standard deviation of the cooling water velocity is illustrated to see the uniformity of flow and
comparing the channel velocity.
• The capability of removed heat rate inside cooling channel compared when both considered
parameters[inlet velocity, inlet temperature] had changed that can affect on the cooling performance of
cooling channel simulation.

Inlet

Cooling blockage barrier Negative plate

18650 Li-ion Battery

Outlet

5
Full geometry model of cooling channel design inside Battery Pack 5
 3 Research Methodology

1
Study the flow characteristics of
Lithium-ion Battery cells with cold
plates on a single surface

Conclusion and Discussion

6
2
Setting up a boundary condition in the
• Different inlet temperature
computational domain, focusing on flow
• Different inlet velocity
parameters, and studying the cooling
strategy used in Cooling channel simulation

Find the maximum of

specified heat removal rate
that cooled the battery by
using water as a coolant.
Flow visualization plot inside
the channel velocity and standard
deviation to compare the channel
velocity
Runs steady-state simulation
3
• Geometrical Modeling
• Mesh Generation
• Initial and Boundary conditions

5 4 • Solving governing equations

6 6
 3 Material properties

Thermal Heat
Density Heat Viscosity
Material Phase Conductivity Capacity
[kg/m3] Ratio [Pa.s]
[W/(m.K)] [J/(kg.K)]

Battery Cell Solid {1.01,1.01,30.22} 750 2690 - -

Aluminum Solid 155 893 2730 - -

Coolant Liquid 0.405 3300 1078 1 0.00429

*These material properties used in cooling channel simulation are verified by Manop Masomtob in the
title Battery Pack Temperature Distribution Simulation with COMSOL and MATLAB. Paper at Milan
7 2012* 7
 3 heat calculation
Removal Removal heat rate calculation
The equation below can be used to estimate the removed heat inside battery cooling channel

𝐷
Q= qሶ =mሶ w CP (To − Ti ) ; mሶ w = ρω vሶ w ; A= 𝜋( )2 ; vሶ w = v*A
2

Q = Heat removed rate in battery cooling system[kW]

mሶ w = Mass flowrate of inlet water [kg/s]
𝑣ሶ 𝑤 = The volumetric flowrate of inlet water [m3 /s]
𝜌𝜔 = Density of cooling water =998 [kg/m3]
𝐶𝑃 = Heat capacity of cooling water= 4.187 [kJ/kg·K]
Ti = Inlet temperature [°C] D=4mm
To = Outlet temperature [°C]
v = Velocity Inlet from Boundary condition [m/s]
A = Cross sectional area[m2]
D = Diameter of Inlet cooling Tap(m)

8 8
 Initial and Boundary conditions
3 in steady state simulation
Negative busbar
Numerical Analysis of Liquid cooling pad
• Inlet condition was varied by inlet velocity
and inlet temperature as shown in table below
• Fully developed was applied in this model.
Parameter1 Parameter2
Inlet velocity(m/s) Inlet temperature(°C)
0.5 25
1.0 30
2.0 35
3.0 40

Inlet and Outlet Condition

was selected both side 1 module of 18650 Li-ion Battery
9 separately as shown 9
 3 Setting Mesh Generation
Numerical Analysis
Mesh Statistics

Description Value

Average element quality 0.639

Tetrahedron 533737

Pyramid 964

Prism 46096

Triangle 153066

Quad 3764

Edge element 19403

Vertex element 1102

10
10
 3 Setting Mesh Generation inANALYSIS
EX.MESHING the simulation[cont.]
[1]

2.Mesh1>calibrate for Fluid- 3.Mesh2>calibrate for Fluid-

1.Mesh>Element size dynamic[Fluid-domain] dynamic[Fluid-Boundary]

• Setting Maximum element size

• Setting Maximum element size 0.0221m
• Minimum 0.00397m
• Maximum element growth rate 1.5
• Curvature Factor 0.6
• Resolution of narrow region 0.5
0.00517m
• Minimum 5.59*10^-4m
• Maximum element growth rate 1.1
• Curvature Factor 0.4
• Resolution of narrow region 0.9
• Using predefined>Finer
• Setting element size as same
as Fluid Domain

Setting resolution of narrow

region to be higher and decrease
element scale from Step1

11 11
 3 Setting Mesh Generation inANALYSIS
EX.MESHING the simulation[cont.]
[2]

4.Mesh3+Corner Refinement1[all of 6.Boundary Layer1>>Setting

Fluid domain] 5.Free Tetrahedral
Boundary Layer Properties

• Handling of sharp edge choose

• Adjust minimum angle between Trimming mode
• Setting Geometric entity level-Remaining • Minimum and Maximum angle
Boundary to be 240 deg
• Number of iterations = 4
• Element size scaling Factor =0.35 for trim = 240 and 50 deg
• For Layer properties
• Number of layer =2
• Stretching factor =1.2
• Thickness adjustment factor = 5
with Automatic specifications

12 12
4
Flow Visualization of the cooling channel
Flow visualization plot of cooling channel water velocity

Inlet velocity = 0.5 m/s Inlet velocity = 1.0 m/s

Inlet velocity = 2.0 m/s Inlet velocity = 3.0 m/s 13

 4 Result of temperature difference and pressure drop
with an inlet velocity of cooling water

Result of temperature difference compared with inlet Result of Pressure drop compared with inlet velocity started
velocity started with inlet temperature: 25°C to 40°C with inlet temperature: 25°C to 40°C
14
 4
Result of the outlet temperature and
Nusselt number with an inlet velocity of cooling water[m/s]

140
25 °C 30°C 35°C 40 °C
45 120

40 100
Outlet Temperature [°C]

80

Nu
35
60
30 40

20
25
0
20 0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Inlet velocity [m/s]
Inlet Velocity[m/s]
Result of the outlet temperature of water compared with
Result of Nusselt number compared with velocity started of
inlet velocity started[ inlet temperature: 25°C,30°C,35°C
cooling water.
and 40°C]
15
 4
Result of the standard deviation with inlet velocity of water(m/s)
The standard deviation of channel velocity
for various inlet velocity of cooling water [m/s]

T_inlet(25 C) T_inlet(30C) T_inlet(35C) T_inlet(40C)

16
 Removed heat rate in kW plot with the inlet velocity of cooling water (m/s)
4 using different inlet temperatures[25, 30, 35, and 40 C ]
Q=0.07KW at V_in=2m/s

Theoretical value
[Q=0.055kW]

Inlet Temperature = 25C Inlet Temperature = 30 C

Inlet Temperature = 35 C Inlet Temperature = 40 C 17

 Conclusion & Future work
5
Conclusion
• Lowest inlet velocity can produce the most distributed velocity inside cooling channel at 0.5 m/s

• When inflow velocity increases, water distribution in the channel becomes relatively poor.

• The capability to remove heat from the battery was consistent as inlet velocity increased.
However, There is a slight error of 3.25% from the precise value of heat removal rate [0.0553
kW]when using inlet velocity at 2 m/s with inlet temperatures at 25°C, 30°C and 35°C.

18
 5 Conclusion & Future work[cont.]

My Future work
• Estimate the cooling efficiency and determine the amount of pressure drop that connects
to other flow parameters. Next, vary the number of cooling channel lengths and depths to
separate the design and modify the cooling channel gap length to have equal space and
more water flow dispersion. Finally, choosing a design that minimizes the cooling barrier
length.

• Improving three-dimensional model of battery pack, the temperature maximum of the

whole pack of battery modules should be evaluated with a heat conjugate equation to find
the removal heat rate compared with the first design

19 19
 Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank you for the research facilities from National Science
and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), National Energy Technology Centre
(ENTEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and King
Mongkut’s University of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL)

2
20
0
Q&A Sessions

2
21
1