Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564

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Applied Thermal Engineering

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

Research Paper

A numerical study on the battery thermal management system with

mini-channel cold plate considering battery aging effect
Zengjia Guo, Qidong Xu, Meng Ni *
Department of Building and Real Estate, Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

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

Keywords: Battery aging is critical for the batteries in electric vehicles, significantly affecting both thermal characteristics
Lithium-ion battery and electrochemical performance. In this research, a more realistic and generic model combining the electro­
Capacity fade chemistry, capacity fade and heat transfer is developed for the design of battery thermal management system
Thermal management system
(BTMS) to ensure efficient and durable operation of batteries. The thermal behaviors and electrochemical
Multiphysics modeling
characteristics in different working cycles of BTMSs with X direction and Y direction mini-channels are analyzed
Electrochemical characteristic
and compared. It is found that BTMSs only provide effective cooling to batteries in their initial working cycles but
fail to control the battery temperature after 1000 cycles due to the higher heat generation rate of aged battery
caused by solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation. In addition, BTMS with Y direction mini-channels always
provides more effective cooling to batteries to achieve good electrochemical performance with acceptable higher
pressure loss during battery cycling. Furthermore, the optimization schemes are proposed for BTMS with Y di­
rection mini-channels to further enhance cooling of the battery for high performance and durable operation of
the batteries. The results show that optimizing mini-channel arrangement, arranging circular pin fins (CPF) and
dispersing nanoparticles into coolant can be helpful for BTMS to provide effective thermal manage, achieve
higher average potential and prevent SEI formation and capacity fade even after 1000 cycles, although the
pressure loss is also higher.

1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Electric vehicles (EVs) are very promising to reduce carbon and
pollutant emission for the transportation sector [1]. The lithium-ion (Li-
ion) battery is an attractive option for EVs due to its high power density
and achievable long life cycle. However, battery electrochemical per­
formance and lifetime are highly sensitive to temperature. A high tem­
perature can easily cause the performance reduction, capacity
degradation and even explosion of the battery [2]. It has already been
elucidated by many investigators that the optimal operational range for
Li-ion battery is 25℃-40℃, and temperature difference in the battery
pack should be less than 5℃ [3]. Therefore, an effective battery thermal
management system (BTMS) is the indispensable part of Li-ion battery
for efficient, stable, and safe operation.
To date, there are various types of BTMSs which are differentiated by
working mediums, such as air, phase change material (PCM) and liquid.
As for air cooling BTMS, Xu [4] and Sun [5] designed U-shaped duct and
Z-shaped duct to improve cooling performance. The reciprocating type
[6], reversely-layered type [7] and secondary vent-based parallel type
[8] airflow path were also proposed to obtain more favorable thermal
behavior. Besides, the airflow rate [9] and gap spacing [10] were
already explored. Owing to the high latent heat, Hallaj [11] pioneered
the application of PCM into BTMS. Layer thickness [12], number of layer
[13] and battery arrangement [14] were optimized to obtain the
enhanced cooling performance. However, Rao [15] revealed that the
most significant problem of PCM-based cooling BTMS is the low thermal
conductivity of PCM. Thus, the researchers paid extensive efforts on
improving PCM thermal conductivity by adding metal foam [16],
carbon-based materials [17] and nanoparticles [18]. Besides, some al­
ternatives to conventional PCMs were also developed [19], but practical
implementation of the alternative was not conducted yet.
In recent years, liquid cooling BTMS is becoming more and more
valuable due to the excellent cooling capacity. Furthermore, cold plate is
usually preferred for liquid cooling BTMS due to the strict space-
limitation and risk of leakage. Panchal [20], Anthony [21] and Nieto

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: meng.ni@polyu.edu.hk (M. Ni).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2022.119564
Received 12 June 2022; Received in revised form 15 October 2022; Accepted 23 October 2022
Available online 29 October 2022
1359-4311/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Guo et al.
Nomenclature
α Specific surface area [m− 1]
Brug Bruggeman tortuosity exponent
c Li+ concentration [mol/m3]
cp Specific heat capacity [J/kg•K]
D Diffusion coefficient of Li+ [m2/s]
E Open circuit voltage [V]
F Faraday’s constant [C/mol]
f± Mean molar activity coefficient of an electrolyte
f Fitting parameter
H Fitting parameter
h Convective heat transfer coefficient [W/m2•K]
I Current [A]
Iapp Current density of electrode [A/m2]
I1C 1C charge/discharge current [A]
J Fitting parameter
j Surface reaction rate [mol/m2•s]
K Expansion factor
k Reaction rate constant [m2.5/mol0.5•s]
P Fluid pressure [Pa]
Qg Total heat generation rate [W/m3]
Qrea Reaction heat generation rate[W/m3]
Qohm Ohmic heat generation rate[W/m3]
Qpol Polarization heat generation rate [W/m3]
r Radius distance variable of particles [m]
T Temperature [K]
t Time [s]
t+ Li+ transference number
x Coordinate along the thickness direction of battery
[22] respectively designed the zig-zag type, vortex type and serpentine
type flow path cold plates, and reported that these designs are more
effective in controlling thermal behaviors. Recently, a novel design by
using wavy microchannel and microtube simultaneously was developed
to further enhance the BTMS cooling performance [23]. Besides, the
inlet velocity [24], inlet and outlet arrangement [25] and length–width
radio [26] of flow path were also optimized to achieve a more effective
cooling performance. However, Yuan [27] revealed that cold plates with
only one inlet and outlet always show a poor cooling performance due to
the too-long flow path. For comparison, the cold plate with mini-
channels can effectively solve this issue. Qian [28] pointed out that
cold plate with 5 mini-channels is enough to provide effective thermal
manage for battery pack. Huang [29] proposed a streamline-shaped
mini-channel cold plate, which can further control the thermal issues
and flow resistance. Shang [30] demonstrated that it is arduous to
improve the overall performance by optimizing a single parameter of
BTMS, and Deng [31] optimized the geometric parameters by using
orthogonal experimental design. Zhang [32] explored the effect of mini-
channel shape on heat transfer performance, and optimized the geo­
metric parameters of mini-channels. In addition, Jin [33] proposed a
novel liquid cooling BTMS by introducing the oblique fins into mini-
channels, which can redevelop boundary layer periodically and pro­
vide a better thermal manage for battery pack. The fin arrangement and
structure parameters [34,35] were also optimized to obtain a more
favorable thermal behaviors with lower pressure loss.
1.2. Research gap and new contributions
In recent years, the electro-thermal model [36] and electrochemical-
thermal model [37] were already developed for the design of BTMS,
which can provide many data that cannot be measured by experiments.
However, the interaction between battery pack and BTMS has not been
2
Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
component[m]
Greek letters
α Transfer coefficient
αa Transfer coefficient for anodic current
αc Transfer coefficient for cathodic current
ε Volume friction
λ Thermal conductivity [W/m•K]
ρ Density [kg/m3]
σi Solid phase conductivity [S/m]
κ Ionic or electronic conductivity [S/m]
γ Bruggeman exponent
φ Electric potential [V]
Subscripts and superscripts
0 Initial or equilibrated state
amb Ambient
e Electrolyte phase
s Solid phase
p Positive electrode
n Negative electrode
eff Effective value
surf Surface of active material particles
ref Reference condition (298.15 K)
Acronyms
BTMS Battery thermal management system
SOC State of charge
SEI Solid electrolyte interphase
CPF Circular pin fin
well studied yet. For example, it has been known that BTMS can control
the battery temperature field, which will in turn affect both battery
electrochemical performance (e.g., potential, SEI formation, etc.) and
thermal characteristic (e.g., heat generation rate, thermal conductivity,
etc.). However, it is still unclear how does the BTMS affect SEI formation
and on the other hand how does SEI formation affect the cooling per­
formance of BTMS. Therefore, it is highly demanded to not only consider
the cooling performance but also focus on battery electrochemical per­
formance and thermal characteristic when designing and optimizing
BTMS. In addition, battery aging is inevitable in the practical application
of batteries, significantly affecting battery electrochemical and thermal
behaviors. In most cases, the higher heat generation rate can be
observed in aged battery as compared to new battery. Thus, designing
BTMS without considering capacity fade inside the battery will cause the
BTMS, which can provide effective thermal manage for battery pack at
beginning, not able to control the temperature of battery pack after long
term operation. To date, only few researchers [38,39] have considered
the effect of capacity fade when designing BTMS. However, these studies
usually only used different internal resistances to represent the perfor­
mance of aged battery or ignored the interaction between the temper­
ature, SEI formation and heat generation rate, which are not able to
accurately predict the interplays among the BTMS performance, battery
aging and SEI formation.
To fill in the above-mentioned research gap, a more realistic and
generic model combining the electrochemistry, capacity fade, heat
transfer and fluid dynamics is developed in this research. Owing to this
model, the multi-physics behaviors of the battery pack under different
working cycles can be accurately predicted. The numerical evaluations
and performance comparisons are conducted on the BTMS with X di­
rection and Y direction mini-channels cold plate based on the proposed
model to fully characterize the heat transfer properties of battery pack in
different working cycles, as well as the flow characteristics, various heat
Z. Guo et al.
generation rates, SEI formation, average potential, and capacity fade. In
addition, some optimization schemes are also proposed by optimizing
mini-channel arrangement, implementing circular pin fin (CPF) and
dispersing nanoparticles into coolant to ensure that BTMS can still
provide effective thermal manage for battery pack even the battery has
been in operation for 1000 cycles and achieve a higher average potential
and lower capacity fade.
2. Numerical model
2.1. Geometrical model
In this research, 6 batteries are connected to form the battery pack
and each single battery is sandwiched by two mini-channel cold plates,
as shown in Fig. 1(a). The employed batteries are commercial Li-ion
batteries with the size of 128 mm × 78 mm × 8 mm. Fig. 1(b) shows
the computational domain of single cell unit. It can be observed that
each single cell unit involves five parts. The cathode and anode are
considered as solid porous matrix, and the active materials are LiFePO4
and LiC6, respectively. The separator is consisted of the porous polymer
membrane, separating the cathode and anode. As for the electrolyte, the
LiPF6 solution with the concentration of 1200 mol/m3 is selected. The
electrochemical reactions are listed as following:
Negative electrode Lib C6 ⇌ Lib− c C6 + cLi+ + ce−
Positive electrode Lia FePO4 ⇌ Lia− c FePO4 + cLi+ + ce−
The mini-channel cold plate has the same length and width as the
battery, with a height of 3 mm. According to the reference [25], flow
direction has a huge effect on thermal and flow characteristics of BTMS
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of (a) battery pack, (b) single cell computational domain, (c) single battery with Y direction mini-channel cold plates, (d) single battery
with X direction mini-channel cold plates, (e) non-equidistant arranged mini-channel cold plate, and (f) circular pin fins arranged mini-channel.
Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
with mini-channel cold plate. Therefore, both X direction and Y direc­
tion mini-channel cold plates are considered in this research for com­
parison and further study, as shown in Fig. 1(c) and Fig. 1(d). Besides, 5
mini-channels are sufficient to provide effective thermal manage for
battery pack [28], and the mini-channels are uniformly arranged inside
the cold plate. The sizes of the mini-channel are 6 mm × 78 mm × 2 mm
and 128 mm × 6 mm × 2 mm respectively for X direction and Y direction
mini-channel cold plates. In addition, the cold plates are made of
aluminum (Al), and water is chosen as the cooling medium.
2.2. Mathematical model
In this research, the working performance of BTMS is modeled and
analyzed by a novel numerical model, which integrates electrochemical
model, capacity fade model, heat transfer model and fluid dynamics
model. The electrochemical model and capacity fade model are used to
simulate the battery potential, SEI formation and battery heat genera­
tion rate in the different working cycles under the different operating
conditions. And the heat transfer model and fluid dynamics model
receive the battery heat generation rate and simulate the working per­
formance of BTMS under different operating conditions.
2.2.1. Electrochemical model
(1)
2.2.1.1. Charge conservation. The charge conservation in solid phase
(2) and solution phase can be described as follows:
( )
∂ ∂ϕs,i 3εs,i
− σ eff
i = − ai Fji ai = (3)
∂x ∂x rεs,i
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Z. Guo et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564

( ) ( )
∂ ∂ϕe,i 2RT dlnf± ∂ ( )
− κeff
i + κeff
i (1 − t+ ) 1 + lnce,i = ai Fji (4) ρc (17)
∂x ∂x F dlnce,i ∂x

Where σ i is solid phase conductivity, α is transfer coefficient, j is ρm

∂Tm λm
= ∇( ∇Tm ) (18)
surface reaction rate, ε is volume friction, r is radius distance variable of ∂t cm
particles, κ is ionic or electronic conductivity, c is Li+ concentration and
Where v is the velocity vector, c and m represent the cooling me­
⇀
t+ is Li+ transference number.
dium and mini-channel cold plate.
The corresponding boundary conditions are described below:
∂ϕs,i ∂ϕs,i ∂ϕe,i 2.2.3. Fluid dynamics model
ϕs |x=1 = 0, − σ eff | = 0, − σ eff | = Iapp , − | =0 (5)
i
∂x x=3,4 i
∂x x=6 ∂x x=2,5 The continuity and momentum conservation equations for the
cooling medium in the mini-channel cold plates are shown as follows:
Where i represents either negative or positive electrode, Iapp is the
current density, and the electrical conductivity can be calculated as ∂ρc
(19)
⇀
+ ∇(ρc v ) = 0
follows: ∂t
σ eff Brug eff Brug
i = σ i εs,i , κi = κ i εe,i (6) ∂ ⇀
(20)
⇀⇀ ⇀
(ρ v ) + ∇(ρc v v ) = − ∇P + ∇(μ∇v )
∂t c
2.2.1.2. Mass conservation. For solid phase and solution phase, mass Where P is the static pressure.
conservation of Li+ can be calculated as below:
∂cs,i Ds,i ∂ 2 ∂cs,i 2.2.4. Capacity fade model
= 2 (r ) (7) It has been known that Li-ions will intercalate and de-intercalate in
∂t r ∂r ∂r
the anode during charging and discharging. Thus, some secondary re­
( )
∂ce,i ∂ ∂ce,i actions involving Li-ions will occur at the anode/electrolyte interface,
εe,i = Deff + ai (1 − t+ )ji (8)
∂t ∂x i
∂x leading to the formation of SEI film which will consume Li-ions
continuously, cause the decomposition of electrolyte and lead to the
The corresponding boundary conditions of mass conservation are
capacity degradation of Li-ion battery [40]. Therefore, an SEI growth
shown as below:
model proposed by Henrik [41] is adopted in this research to simulate
∂cs,i ∂cs,i ∂ce,i the capacity fade. The accumulated charge loss caused by SEI formation
− Ds,i | = 0, − Ds,i | = ji , Deff | =0 (9)
∂r r=0 ∂r r=rs,i i
∂x x=2,5 is described as:
Where i represents either negative electrode, separator or positive dQSEI
= − ISEI (21)
electrode, Li+ diffusion coefficient in electrolyte is calculated as below: dt

Deff e Brug
i = Di εe,i (10) JI1C
ISEI = − (1 + HK) ( SEI F) QSEI fJ (22)
exp αηRT + I1C
2.2.1.3. Electrochemical kinetics. The current density is calculated by
Where α is the transfer coefficient, J, f and H are the lumped pa­
Butler-Volmer equation as below:
{ [ ] [ ]} rameters, T is environmental temperature, and K is the expansion factor
αa F ηi αc F ηi about the state of charge (SOC):
ji = ki (cs,max,i − cs,surf ,i )αa cs,surf ,i αc cαi a exp − exp (11)
RT RT ⎧
⎪ I
( ) ⎪
⎪ − 2 , I < 0andSOC < 0.3
⎪ I
ηi = ϕs,i − ϕe,i − ΔϕSEI,i − Ei (12) ⎪
⎨ 1C

K= I (23)
Where i represents negative or positive electrode. ⎪
⎪
⎪
−
I1C
, I < 0andSOC > 0.7
⎪
⎪
⎩
0, I < 0and0.3 ≤ SOC ≤ 0.7orI ≥ 0
2.2.2. Heat transfer model
For the battery pack, the thermal properties are calculated by energy
conservation equation as below: 2.3. Model parameters
∂T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T
ρc p = (λx ) + (λy ) + (λz ) + Qg (13) 2.3.1. Thermal properties and geometric parameters
∂τ ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
For the single cell unit, the length of negative electrode, separator
Where ρ and cp represent density and specific heat capacity; λ is the and positive electrode is 34 μm, 24 μm and 70 μm respectively. And the
thermal conductivity; Qg represent total heat generation, which is con­
sisted of reaction heat (Qrea), ohmic heat (Qohm), and polarization heat Table 1
(Qpol): Thermal properties of BTMS with mini-channel cold plate.
dEi Materials Density Heat capacity (J/ Thermal conductivity (W/
Qrea = ai Fji T (14) (kg/ kg•K) m•K)
T
m3)
( ) ( )
∂ ∂ϕs,i ∂ ∂ϕs,i Negative 2223 641 1.04
Qohm = σeff + κeff
i
∂x ∂x i
∂x ∂x electrode
( ) (15) Positive 1500 800 1.48
2κeff
i RT(1 − t+ ) dlnf ∂lnce,i ∂ϕe,i electrode
+ 1+ + ai Fji ΔϕSEI,i
F dlnce,i ∂x ∂x Separator 900 1883 0.5
Electrolyte 1210 1518 0.099
Qpol = ai Fji ηi (16) Cooper foil 8700 396 398
Aluminum foil 2700 897 237
For the mini-channel cold plate, the energy conservation equations SEI film 1600 N/A N/A
are described as follows: Al2O3 3510 497.26 1000
Water 998 4182 0.6

4
Z. Guo et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564

length of cooper foil and aluminum foil is 6.2 μm and 10 μm. The
dU p
thermal properties of BTMS with mini-channel cold plate are listed in = − 0.35376y8 + 1.3902y7 − 2.2585y6 + 1.9635y5 − 0.98716y4
dT (31)
Table 1, which is from reference [42].
+ 0.28857y3 − 0.046272y2 + 0.0032158y − 1.9186 × 10− 5
2.3.2. Battery design parameters
dUn exp(− 32.9633287x + 8.316711484)
Table 2 shows the critical battery parameters used in the simulation, = 344.1347148 ×
dT 1 + 749.0756003exp(− 34.79099646x + 8.887143624)
which are from the reference [43] and estimation.
− 0.8520278805x + 0.362299229x2 + 0.2698001697
2.3.3. Electrode kinetics parameters (32)
In this research, the diffusion coefficient and reaction rate constant
are calculated by the following equations: 2.3.4. Electrolyte parameters
In this research, the parameters of electrolyte are dependent on
18
1.18 × 10− EaD,p 1 1 temperature and concentration, and can be expressed by the following
Ds,p = exp(− ( − )) (24)
equations [46]:
1.6
(1 + y) R T 298.15

(33)
54 2.2×10− 4C
EaD,n 1 1 De = 1 × 10− 4 × 10− 4.43− T− 229− 0.05C−
Ds,n = 3.9 × 10− 14
exp(− ( − )) (25)
R T 298.15 √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
υ = 0.601 − 0.24 10− 3 C + 0.982(1 − 0.0052(T − 294) 10− 9 C) (34)
EaR,p 1 1
Ks,p = 1.4 × 10− 12
exp(− 3y)exp(− ( − )) (26) (
R T 298.15 σ e = 1.12 × 10− 4
− 10.5 + 0.074T − 6.69 × 10− 5 T 2 + 6.68 × 10− 4 C − 1.78
)
EaR,n 1 1 × 10− 5 CT + 2.8 × 10− 8 CT 2 + 4.49×10− 7 C2 − 8.86 × 10− 10 C2 T
Ks,n = 3 × 10− 11
exp(− ( − )) (27)
R T 298.15 (35)
Where y is the positive SOC. Li transfer number also depends on temperature and concentration.
+
The open circuit potential is calculated by Taylor’s first law: Thus, equation (36) can be used [47]:
dUi ( )( )
Ui = Uref ,i + (T − Tref ) (28) t+ = 2.67 × 10− 4 exp
833 C
+ 3.09
dT T 1000
( )( )
Where Tref is 298 K, and Uref,i is reference potential, which can be 653 C 49.63
calculated using equations (29) and (30) [44]: × 10− 3 exp + 0.517 × 10− 3 exp(− ) (36)
T 1000 T
( )
Uref ,p = 3.4323 − 0.4828exp − 80.2493(1 − y)1.3198 − 3.2474
( ) 2.3.5. Capacity fade parameters
× 10− 6 exp 20.2645(1 − y)3.8003 + 3.2482 In capacity fade model, J, f and H are temperature dependent pa­
( )
× 10− 6 exp 20.2646(1 − y)3.7995 (29) rameters, which can be calculated using the following equations [41]:

J = − 6.667 × 10− 8 T 2 + 8.009 × 10− 5 T − 0.01777 (37)

Uref ,n = 0.6379 + 0.5416exp( − 305.5309x)
( ) ( )
(38)
1 1
x − 0.1958 x − 1.0571 f = 1580e15470(T − 298.15)
+ 0.044tanh − − 0.1978tanh
0.1088 0.0854 (30)
( ) ( )
(39)
1 1
x − 0.0117 x − 0.5692 H = 71.8e10040(T − 298.15)
− 0.6878tanh − 0.0175tanh
0.0529 0.0875
2.3.6. Nanofluid parameters
Where x is negative SOC.
In this research, Al2O3 and water are chosen as nanoparticles and
The entropy change of positive and negative electrode can be
base fluid respectively. The nanoparticles are assumed to have the same
expressed by the following equations [45]:
velocity as the base fluid. Therefore, the nanofluid can be considered as
single phase fluid, and following equations [48] are adopted to describe
the thermal and flow characteristics of nanofluid.
Table 2 ρnf = (1 − φ)ρw + φρnp (40)
Critical battery parameters.
Parameters Unit Negative Positive Separator (1 − φ)cp,w ρw + φcp,np ρnp
electrode electrode cp,nf = (41)
ρnf
εs 0.55 0.43 N/A
0.33 0.332 0.54
εe μnf = (1 + 7.23φ + 123φ2 )μw (42)
rp μm 0.0365 3.5 N/A
3
cs,0 mol/m 16,361 3900 N/A ( )10
cs,max mol/m3 31,370 22,806 N/A Tnf knp
ce,0 mol/m3 N/A N/A 1200 knf = [1 + 4.4Re0.4 Pr0.66 ( )0.03 φ0.66 ]kw (43)
Twf kw
αa 0.5 0.5 N/A
αc 0.5 0.5 N/A Where ρ, cp, μ and k represent density, specific heat capacity, dy­
γ 1.5 1.5 1.5 namic viscosity and thermal conductivity, nf, w and np represent
2
Ds,i m /s Eq. (25) Eq. (24) N/A
De m2/s N/A N/A Eq. (33)
nanofluid, water and nanoparticles, φ represents nanoparticle volume
EaD J/mol 20,000 30,000 N/A fraction, Re is Reynolds number, Pr is Prandtl number, Twf is the freezing
EaR J/mol 35,000 35,000 N/A point of water.
σs S/m 100 0.5 N/A
σe S/m N/A N/A Eq. (35)
ki m2.5/ Eq. (27) Eq. (26) N/A 2.4. Model implementation method
mol0.5•s
nm 1 N/A N/A
The numerical simulations were conducted using COMSOL
δSEI,0

5
Z. Guo et al.
Multiphysics, and the built-in PARDISO direct solver is selected for the
solving process. Meanwhile, in order to simply the simulations, the
following assumptions were adopted in this study: (1) Only considering
solid and liquid phase, and ignoring the gas generation during the bat­
tery working process; (2) The active materials were assumed to be
uniformly distributed in the solid electrode, and considered as spherical
particles; (3) The current collectors were assumed to have no effect on
Li+ transfer and heat transfer; (4) The volume and porosity of the ma­
terials were not changed with the time; (5) The resistance of SEI film on
positive electrode was ignored.
In this research, the discharging and charging rates were chosen as
5C, and the discharging process was stopped when potential was lower
than 2 V. The velocity inlet boundary ranged from 0.035 m/s to 0.055
m/s with a temperature of 300 K was applied for the inlet, and the outlet
followed a pressure outlet boundary with the value of standard atmo­
spheric pressure. In addition, the coolant in BTMS was always consid­
ered as incompressible fluid. As for the battery pack, the symmetric
boundary condition was adopted, and the side surfaces were considered
as free convection with a heat transfer coefficient of 5 W/(m•K).
3. Results and analysis
3.1. Model verification
Fig. 2 shows the grid independence verification and model verifi­
cation. It can be seen that the maximum data deviation in maximum
temperature and pressure loss was only 0.05 K and 0.04 Pa when the
gird number was higher than 3.84 million. Thus, a grid number of 3.84
million was selected with considering the quality of grid and numerical
accuracy. Meanwhile, in order to verify the proposed model, the
Fig. 2. (a) Grid independence verification, and model verification of (b) temperature, (c) potential, and (d) capacity fade.
6
Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
numerical simulations were conducted with the same conditions as the
experiments from the literature [49], and the results were shown in
Fig. 2 (b)–(d). For the temperature, the maximum data deviation and
average data deviation were less than 0.54 K and 0.1 K, respectively. As
for battery potential and capacity fade, the maximum data deviation was
less than 0.012 V and 0.0031, indicating that the computation results
were also consistent with experimental data. Therefore, these compar­
isons demonstrated that the numerical model was effective in simulating
the battery electrochemical and thermal characteristics.
3.2. The effect of capacity fade model
Battery aging is inevitable in the practical application, affecting both
electrochemical performance and thermal characteristics of batteries.
Therefore, the numerical simulations were conducted to fully investi­
gate the effect of capacity fade on thermal and electrochemical char­
acteristics of the battery pack cooled by BTMSs with X direction and Y
direction mini-channels. Fig. 3 depicts the maximum temperature and
maximum temperature difference of BTMSs with X direction and Y di­
rection mini-channels in different working cycles. The maximum tem­
perature and maximum temperature difference decreased with
increasing velocity in all the cases. When considering the effect of bat­
tery aging, the maximum temperature and maximum temperature dif­
ference increased with increasing cycle number. However, the
maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference in
different working cycles of the cases without considering capacity fade
never changed under the same operating conditions. Meanwhile, the
increment in maximum temperature and maximum temperature dif­
ference within the first 250 working cycles was the largest, due to the
significant increase in the thickness of SEI film and heat generation rate
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 3. (a) Maximum temperature and (b) maximum temperature difference of battery pack.
which were discussed in the following section.
Due to the effect of capacity fade, the maximum temperature and
maximum temperature difference in 1000 cycles of BTMS with X di­
rection mini-channels were higher than those of original cases by 2.01 K,
1.74 K, 1.52 K and 1.83 K, 1.61 K, 1.44 K, respectively. The maximum
temperature and maximum temperature difference after 1000 cycles of
BTMS with Y direction mini-channels were higher than those of original
cases by 1.89 K, 1.61 K, 1.38 K and 1.79 K, 1.55 K, 1.34 K, respectively.
Such large data deviation on maximum temperature and maximum
temperature difference caused by capacity fade will definitely affect
BTMS design. Without considering the battery aging, 0.055 m/s and
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
0.045 m/s were enough for BTMSs to meet the requirements for the
maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference. Howev­
er, BTMSs were unable to control the temperature of battery pack after
1000 cycles to reach these requirements under the investigated inlet
velocity when considering the effect of capacity fade. For the new bat­
tery in the first cycle, the maximum temperature and maximum tem­
perature difference of BTMS with Y direction mini-channel were 0.81 K,
0.65 K, 0.57 K and 0.52 K, 0.49 K, 0.47 K lower than BTMS with X di­
rection mini-channel. For the aged battery in 1000 cycles, the maximum
temperature and maximum temperature difference of BTMS with Y di­
rection mini-channel were lower than that of BTMS with X direction
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 4. Temperature distribution of the battery central section (a) BTMS with X direction mini-channel, (b) BTMS with Y direction mini-channel.
mini-channel by 0.94 K, 0.78 K, 0.7 K and 0.56 K, 0.54 K, 0.52 K.
Fig. 4 shows the temperature distribution of the battery central
section with 0.045 m/s inlet velocity. It can be seen that capacity fade
has a significant effect on temperature distribution. For the cases
considering the capacity fade, battery always showed totally different
temperature distribution in different working cycles, and the tempera­
ture gradient became bigger and bigger as the working cycle is repeated.
However, the cases ignoring the capacity fade showed the same tem­
perature distribution during the cycling. For all the cases, the minimum
temperature appeared around the inlet of mini-channel, and the tem­
perature increased along the flowing direction. Thus, the maximum
temperature appeared near the outlet. In addition, it is also important to
note that BTMS with Y direction mini-channel always showed a smaller
temperature gradient as compared to BTMS with X direction mini-
channel, indicating that Y direction mini-channel is more effective in
controlling the battery temperature.
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
In order to provide more valuable information for the design and
optimization of BTMS, the heat generation sources inside the battery
were analyzed, as shown in Fig. 5. For the cases with ignoring battery
aging, the heat generation rates were never changed during the cycling
under the same inlet velocity. However, the heat generation sources
were actually varied as the working cycle was repeated due to the effect
of capacity fade, leading to the distinctly different battery thermal issues
in different working cycles. The reversible heat generation rate became
smaller and smaller during the cycling due to SEI formation and Li+
reduction inside the battery. However, the irreversible heat generation
rate increased with the increasing working cycles. Meanwhile, the
increment in irreversible heat generation was much higher than the
decrement in reversible heat generation. Thus, the total heat generation
rate became larger and larger during the cycling, leading to a higher
temperature and temperature difference inside the aged battery, as
shown in Fig. 5. Besides, the changes in all these heat generation rates
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 5. Total heat generation rate, reversible heat generation rate and irreversible heat generation rate of battery at 5C discharge rate (a) X direction mini-channel,
(b) Y direction mini-channel.
within the first 250 working cycles was the largest, due to the significant
increase in the thickness of SEI film. It is also very interesting to note that
the battery temperature could also affect the heat generation sources.
The low-temperature battery (BTMS with Y direction mini-channel)
generated a larger amount of heat, and the battery with high tempera­
ture (BTMS with X direction mini-channel) had a lower heat generation
rate.
Fig. 6 depicts the pressure loss of BTMS with X direction and Y di­
rection mini-channel. It can be observed that pressure loss in all the
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
cases increased with the increasing inlet velocity. For the cases without
considering capacity fade, the pressure loss was not changed during the
cycling. However, pressure loss decreased gradually with the increasing
cycle number when considering the capacity fade, due to the different
coolant temperature caused by different battery temperature. Mean­
while, the decrement value in pressure loss became larger with the
increasing inlet velocity. In addition, Y direction mini-channel always
caused a higher pressure loss than X direction mini-channel, due to the
longer flow path. The pressure loss of BTMS with Y direction mini-
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 6. Pressure loss of BTMS with (a) X direction mini-channel, (b) Y direction mini-channel.
channel in the first cycle was 13.95 Pa, 18.97 Pa and 24.1 Pa higher than
that of BTMS with X direction mini-channel. After 1000 cycles, the
pressure loss of BTMS with Y direction mini-channel was higher than
that of BTMS with X direction mini-channel by 13.5 Pa, 18.46 Pa and
23.65 Pa. Furthermore, higher pressure loss caused by BTMS usually
means that higher pumping power is required to push the coolant
through the mini-channel. The pumping power is calculated by using Eq.
(44), as below. Therefore, the pumping power caused by BTMS with Y
direction mini-channel was about 0.2mW, 0.35mW and 0.55mW higher
than BTMS with X direction mini-channel, due to the higher pressure
loss.
Ppump = ∇P • Vin • Ain (44)
Where Vin is the velocity of inlet, and Ain is the total inlet area.
It has been known that the electrochemical performance is also a
critical factor to the batteries in practical applications, which can be
affected by battery temperature. Therefore, BTMS should not only help
achieve the safe operation of battery pack, but also ensure the efficient
operation of battery pack by achieving a better electrochemical per­
formance. Fig. 7(a) shows the average potential of battery pack during
the discharging process in different cycles. For the cases considering
capacity fade, the average potential decreased with the increasing cycle
number, and the decrement value within the first 250 cycles was the
largest due to the rapid formation of SEI film. As compared to the cases
without considering capacity fade, the average potential in 1000 cycles
of BTMS with X direction mini-channel was decreased by 0.2824 V,
0.2716 V and 0.2662 V, and the average potential in 1000 cycles of
BTMS with Y direction mini-channel was decreased by 0.2754 V, 0.2654
V and 0.2604 V, as shown in Fig. 7(a). It is also important to note that
battery temperature had the different effect on the average potential in
different working cycles. Within the first 250 cycles, the battery pack
with high temperature achieved a higher average potential. However,
the average potential of the low-temperature battery was higher than
high-temperature battery in the following cycles. Therefore, it can also
be observed that BTMS with Y direction mini-channel showed a lower
average potential before 250 cycles, but achieved a higher average po­
tential in the following cycles.
The Li+ reduction and SEI formation are the main reasons for the
decline in average potential and the increase in heat generation rate,
maximum temperature, and maximum temperature difference. Hence,
the growth of SEI film during the cycling was analyzed in this research,
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
as shown in Fig. 7(b). For all the cases, the SEI thickness always
increased as the working cycle is repeated. Meanwhile, it can also be
observed that SEI thickness was rapidly increased in the initial cycles,
but the increasing trend became weaker during the cycling. This is
because that the initial SEI formation is caused by reactions between the
impurities and electrolyte, but the system is diffusion-limited due to the
concentration limitation of impurities and the rising diffusional resis­
tance in the following cycles [40]. Battery temperature also had the
effect on the SEI formation. High battery temperature contributed to
accelerate the SEI formation, because of the lower diffusional resistance
and higher parasitic reaction rate inside the high-temperature battery
[50]. In addition, BTMS with Y direction mini-channel had a better
performance in controlling SEI thickness, which was lower by 2.72 nm,
2.47 nm and 2.32 nm after 1000 cycles as compared to X direction mini-
channel.
Fig. 7(c) shows the capacity fade of battery pack. It can be seen that
the changing trend of capacity fade corresponded to the changing trend
of SEI thickness. Thus, the capacity fade also increased with the
increasing cycle number, and the increment value became smaller and
smaller during the cycling. Meanwhile, high battery temperature could
also accelerate the battery aging in all the cases. Besides, BTMS with Y
direction mini-channel always provided a better performance in pre­
venting battery aging than X direction mini-channel under the investi­
gated inlet velocity. After battery pack working for 1000 cycles, the
capacity fade of BTMS with Y direction mini-channel was decreased by
2.15 %, 2.08 % and 2.02 % as compared to X direction mini-channel.
4. The optimization schemes
The previous analyses clearly demonstrated the significant effect of
capacity fade on battery temperature control and thus the temperature
performance. Therefore, BTMSs with both X direction and Y direction
mini-channel which were initially designed for the new battery only
provided effective thermal manage for battery pack in the initial
working cycles. After the battery pack has been in operation for 1000
cycles, BTMSs failed to control the temperature of battery pack due to
the battery aging, which could lead to the thermal runaway or even
explosion. Meanwhile, it can be observed that BTMS with Y direction
mini-channel obtained a more favorable thermal behaviors and elec­
trochemical performance as compared to X direction mini-channel.
Therefore, the optimization schemes were proposed based on BTMS
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 7. (a) Average voltage during discharging process, (b) SEI thickness, and (c) capacity fade.
with Y direction mini-channel to ensure the effective thermal manage­
ment, as well as the higher average potential and lower capacity fade,
for battery pack over long-term battery cycling in the following section.
4.1. The effect of mini-channel arrangement
BTMS with different mini-channel arrangements can provide
distinctly different cooling performance. Therefore, a non-equidistant
arrangement of mini-channel was proposed to ensure the effective
thermal management for battery pack even after the battery pack has
been in operation for 1000 cycles, as shown in Fig. 1(e). For the non-
equidistant arrangement, x1 and x6 were 5 mm, x2 and x5 were 9 mm,
and x3 and x4 were 10 mm. As for equidistant arrangement, the distance
between the mini-channels was always 8 mm.
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
Fig. 8(a) and Fig. 8(b) show the maximum temperature and
maximum temperature difference of BTMS with different mini-channel
arrangements. For both two designs, the maximum temperature and
maximum temperature difference decreased with increasing inlet ve­
locity and increased as the working cycle is repeated. During the cycling,
BTMS with non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel always achieved a
more effective cooling performance as compared to BTMS with equi­
distantly arranged mini-channel. In the first working cycle, the
maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference of BTMS
with non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel was 0.69 K, 0.78 K, 0.83
K and 0.65 K, 0.74 K, 0.81 K lower than that of BTMS with equidistantly
arranged mini-channel. After the battery pack has been in operation for
1000 cycles, the maximum temperature and maximum temperature
difference of BTMS with non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel was
Z. Guo et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564

Fig. 8. (a) Maximum temperature, (b) maximum temperature difference, and (c) pressure loss of BTMS with different mini-channel arrangements.

0.8 K, 0.88 K, 0.91 K and 0.75 K, 0.83 K, 0.86 K lower than that of BTMS
with equidistantly arranged mini-channel. Besides, it can be observed
that BTMS with equidistantly arranged mini-channel failed to control
the battery temperature to meet the requirements after 1000 cycles
under the investigated inlet velocity. However, 0.055 m/s was enough
for BTMS with non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel to control the
maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference in 1000
cycles within 313 K and 5 K at the same time.
Fig. 8(c) depicts the pressure loss of BTMS with different mini-
channel arrangements. Pressure loss in all the cases increased with the
increasing inlet velocity and decreased gradually during the cycling,
which was attributed to the effect of different battery temperature in
different working cycles. Due to the combined effects of battery tem­
perature and same flow path of mini-channel, the pressure loss of BTMS
with non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel in all the cycles only had
a slight increment as compared to BTMS with equidistantly arranged
mini-channel under the investigated inlet velocity. In addition, the
pumping power caused by BTMS with non-equidistantly arranged mini-
channel was also similar as BTMS with equidistantly arranged mini-
channel.

Fig. 9. (a) Average voltage during the battery discharging process, and (b) capacity fade.

12
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 9 depicts the average potential during discharging process and
the capacity fade of battery pack. It can be seen from Fig. 9(a) that the
average potential decreased gradually for all the cases during the
cycling, and the average potential of BTMS with different mini-channel
arrangement showed different trend in different working cycles which
was caused by the battery temperature and battery aging. Therefore, it
can be observed that BTMS with equidistantly arranged mini-channel
achieved a higher average potential within first 250 cycles, but
average potential of BTMS with non-equidistantly arranged mini-
channel was always higher in the following cycles. As for the capacity
fade, BTMS with non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel showed a
stronger ability in preventing battery aging, as shown in Fig. 9(b). After
battery pack working for 1000 cycles, the capacity fade of BTMS with
non-equidistantly arranged mini-channel was decreased by 1.57 %,
1.78 % and 1.91 % respectively as compared to BTMS with equidistantly
arranged mini-channel.
4.2. The effect of pin fins
The increasing thermal boundary layer is unavoidable for liquid
cooling BTMS, leading to a poor cooling performance. Therefore, the
continuously arranged circular pin fins (CPFs) were introduced into
mini-channel cold plate, initializing boundary layer and changing flow
state. Fig. 1(f) shows the mini-channel cold plate with CPFs. CPF was
made of Al, with a size of 0.5 mm diameter and 2 mm height. CPFs were
staggered arranged in totally 14 rows, with 8 mm and 1.3 mm for
streamwise and spanwise spacing between neighboring CPF. The dis­
tance between first row of CPFs and inlet as well as last row of CPFs and
outlet was 12 mm.
For both these two designs, the maximum temperature and
Fig. 10. (a) Maximum temperature, (b) maximum temperature difference, and (c) pressure loss of BTMS with and without circular pin fins.
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
maximum temperature difference decreased with increasing inlet ve­
locity and increased during the cycling, as shown in Fig. 10(a) and
Fig. 10(b). It can be observed that CPFs arranged BTMS was more
effective in controlling thermal behaviors in all the working cycles, as
compared to the BTMS without CPFs. For the new battery pack, the
maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference were
reduced by 0.57 K, 0.82 K, 0.96 K and 0.52 K, 0.79 K, 0.94 K due to the
implementation of CPFs. As for the aged battery pack in 1000 working
cycles, the maximum temperature and maximum temperature differ­
ence were decreased by 0.65 K, 0.91 K, 1.03 K and 0.57 K, 0.87 K, 1.01 K
after arranging CPFs. Besides, BTMS without CPFs was failed to control
the maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference in
1000 cycles within 313 K and 5 K at the same time under the investi­
gated inlet velocity. However, 0.055 m/s was enough for CPFs arranged
BTMS to meet these temperature requirements after 1000 cycles.
Fig. 10(c) presents the pressure loss of BTMS with and without CPFs.
It can be observed that the pressure loss in all the cases increased with
the increasing inlet velocity and decreased gradually during the cycling.
However, the implementation of CPFs inside BTMS was always penal­
ized by the adverse effect of higher pressure loss. After battery pack
working for 1000 cycles, the pressure loss of CPFs arranged BTMS was
17.8 Pa, 21 Pa and 25.5 Pa higher than that of BTMS without CPFs.
Meanwhile, CPFs arranged BTMS also caused higher pumping power
which was about 0.26mW, 0.4mW and 0.59mW higher than that of
BTMS without CPFs.
Fig. 11 shows the streamline distribution in the mini-channel of
BTMS with and without CPFs, explaining why CPFs arranged BTMS
produced totally different cooling performance and pressure loss. For all
the cases, the coolant velocity and turbulent intensity inside the mini-
channel increased with increasing inlet velocity. Besides, the low
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 11. Streamlines distribution of (a) BTMS without CPFs, (b) BTMS with CPFs.
velocity areas were always exited around the walls of mini-channel,
leading to a thicker boundary layer and poor cooling performance.
However, the impingement of coolant on CPFs could promote 3D tur­
bulent mixing, refresh boundary layer and transform the laminar flow
into turbulent flow. Therefore, it can be observed that there was a large
number of vortexes generated inside the mini-channel of BTMS with
CPFs, even under the low inlet velocity. Besides, the coolant was also
significantly accelerated due to CPFs. The center area of mini-channel
with CPFs showed a much higher velocity with a stronger turbulence
as compared to BTMS without CPFs, and the low-velocity areas around
the walls were also decreased. Therefore, the stronger turbulent in­
tensity and higher coolant velocity could always be induced by CPFs
under the investigated inlet velocity, significantly improving the heat
transfer performance but also leading a higher pressure loss.
For all the cases, the average potential decreased gradually during
the cycling, as shown in Fig. 12(a). However, the average potential
showed totally different trend in different working cycles when BTMS
with and without CPFs were adopted. Within the first 250 cycles, BTMS
without CPFs achieved a higher average potential due to the higher
battery temperature. But CPFs arranged BTMS showed a higher average
potential in the following cycles because of the stronger ability in pre­
venting battery aging. Fig. 12(b) shows the capacity fade of battery pack
Fig. 12. (a) Average voltage during the battery discharging process, and (b) capacity fade.
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
in different working cycles. It can be observed that the capacity fade of
both these two designs was increased but the increment in capacity fade
became smaller as the cycle number increases. During the cycling, CPFs
arranged BTMS had a better performance in preventing the battery ca­
pacity fade as compared to BTMS without CPFs. After 1000 working
cycles, the capacity fade of battery pack was decreased by 1.46 %, 1.91
% and 1.97 % after arranging CPFs.
4.3. The effect of nanofluid
For liquid cooling BTMS, enhancing the coolant thermal conductivity
is always an effective method to improve the cooling performance.
Nanofluid, which is a mixture obtained by suspending nanoparticles into
base fluid, has already been proved to have a higher thermal conduc­
tivity than base fluid [48]. Therefore, nanofluid was introduced into
BTMS with mini-channel cold plate as the coolant in this section. Water
was used as base fluid, and Al2O3 nanoparticles were selected with
different volume fraction (1 %, 3 %, 5 %, 7 % and 9 %) due to the
suitable thermal and physical characteristics and good performance in
controlling extra pressure loss [51]. The physical properties of nanofluid
were derived in Section 2.3.
Fig. 13(a) and Fig. 13(b) show the maximum temperature and
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 13. (a) Maximum temperature, (b) maximum temperature difference, and (c) pressure loss of BTMS with water and nanofluid.
maximum temperature difference of BTMS with pure water and nano­
fluid. For all the cases, maximum temperature and maximum tempera­
ture difference decreased with increasing inlet velocity and increased as
the working cycle is repeated. As compared to pure water, the addition
of Al2O3 nanoparticles significantly enhanced the cooling performance
of BTMS. Furthermore, as the volume fraction of nanoparticles
increased, BTMS with nanofluid was more effective in controlling
thermal behaviors of battery pack. For the new battery pack, the
maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference dropped
0.71 K, 0.65 K, 0.63 K and 0.66 K, 0.62 K, 0.61 K for water-1 % Al2O3, 1
K, 0.93 K, 0.88 K and 0.91 K, 0.88 K, 0.85 K for water-3 % Al2O3, 1.27 K,
1.19 K, 1.12 K and 1.16 K, 1.11 K, 1.08 K for water-5 % Al2O3, 1.5 K,
1.39 K, 1.31 K and 1.37 K, 1.31 K, 1.26 K for water-7 % Al2O3, 1.71 K,
1.58 K, 1.48 K and 1.56 K, 1.49 K, 1.42 K for water-9 % Al2O3. As for the
aged battery pack in 1000 working cycles, the maximum temperature
and maximum temperature difference were decreased by 0.84 K, 0.75 K,
0.68 K and 0.76 K, 0.71 K, 0.66 K for water-1 % Al2O3, 1.22 K, 1.1 K,
1.02 K and 1.1 K, 1.04 K, 0.98 K for water-3 % Al2O3, 1.55 K, 1.41 K,
1.29 K and 1.4 K, 1.32 K, 1.23 K for water-5 % Al2O3, 1.83 K, 1.67 K,
1.52 K and 1.67 K, 1.56 K, 1.45 K for water-7 % Al2O3, 2.1 K, 1.91 K,
1.74 K and 1.9 K, 1.77 K, 1.66 K for water-9 % Al2O3. Besides, BTMS
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Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
with water-1 % Al2O3 and water-3 % Al2O3 only needed 0.055 m/s to
reach the temperature requirements after 1000 cycles, and only 0.045
m/s was needed for BTMS with water-5 % Al2O3, water-7 % Al2O3 and
water-9 % Al2O3.
Fig. 13(c) shows the pressure loss of BTMS with pure water and
nanofluid. For all the cases, pressure loss increased with the increasing
inlet velocity and decreased gradually during the cycling due to the
combined effect of battery temperature and capacity fade. However, it
can be observed that dispersing Al2O3 nanoparticles into BTMS led to the
adverse effect of higher pressure loss. As the volume fraction of nano­
particles increased, BTMS with nanofluid caused higher pressure loss,
and the pressure loss increment also became larger and larger. After the
battery pack has been in operation for 1000 cycles, pressure loss
increased 2.4 Pa, 3.4 Pa and 4.6 Pa by dispersing 1 % Al2O3 nano­
particles, 8.8 Pa, 12.4 Pa and 16.4 Pa by dispersing 3 % Al2O3 nano­
particles, 17.4 Pa, 24.7 Pa and 32.5 Pa by dispersing 5 % Al2O3
nanoparticles, 29.5 Pa, 41.5 Pa and 53.9 Pa by dispersing 7 % Al2O3
nanoparticles, 44.9 Pa, 62.5 Pa and 80.7 Pa by dispersing 9 % Al2O3
nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the pumping power was also increased about
0.03mW, 0.07mW and 0.11mW after dispersing 1 % Al2O3 nano­
particles, 0.13mW, 0.22mW and 0.39mW after dispersing 3 % Al2O3
Z. Guo et al.
Fig. 14. (a) Average voltage during the battery discharging process, and (b) capacity fade.
nanoparticles, 0.26mW, 0.47mW and 0.76mW after dispersing 5 %
Al2O3 nanoparticles, 0.44mW, 0.79mW and 1.26mW after dispersing 7
% Al2O3 nanoparticles, 0.67mW, 1.2mW and 1.88mW after dispersing 9
% Al2O3 nanoparticles.
Fig. 14 depicts the average potential during discharging process and
the capacity fade of battery pack. It can be seen from Fig. 14(a) that the
average potential decreased gradually for all the cases during the
cycling. By dispersing Al2O3 nanoparticles into water, the battery pack
showed totally different electrochemical performance. During the first
250 working cycles, BTMS with pure water achieved the highest average
potential due to the effect of higher battery temperature on electro­
chemical performance. However, in the following cycles, BTMS with
nanofluid showed a higher average potential than BTMS with pure
water, and BTMS with water-9 % Al2O3 achieved the highest average
potential. This is because that BTMS with nanofluid was more effective
in controlling capacity fade of battery pack, and the ability in preventing
16
Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023) 119564
battery aging became stronger as the volume fraction of nanoparticles
increased. Thus, the capacity fade of BTMS with nanofluid was always
lower than that of BTMS with pure water, as shown in Fig. 14(b). After
dispersing 1 %, 3 %, 5 %, 7 % and 9 % Al2O3 nanoparticles into pure
water, the capacity fade in 1000 cycles were decreased by 1.75 %, 1.6 %,
1.49 % respectively, 2.52 %, 2.27 %, 2.03 % respectively, 3.73 %, 2.8 %,
2.54 % respectively, 4.1 %, 3.24 %, 2.96 % respectively, and 4.54 %,
3.78 %, 3.39 % respectively as compared to the BTMS with pure water.
5. Conclusions
In this research, a more realistic and generic model which coupled
the electrochemical, thermal and SEI formation model was developed in
order to manage the thermal issues of battery pack even over long-term
battery cycling. This model was used to simulate the multi-physics be­
haviors in different working cycles of BTMS with X direction and Y
Z. Guo et al.
direction mini-channel cold plate, and validated in aspects of thermal
and electrochemical performance, which was in good agreement with
simulation data and experimental data. The simulation results clearly
indicated that BTMSs could only provide good thermal management for
batteries within several working cycles. Due to battery aging, the total
heat generation rate of aged battery was always increased during the
cycling, leading to a higher temperature and temperature difference.
Thus, BTMSs failed to provide effective cooling to battery pack after
1000 cycles. Meanwhile, BTMS with Y direction mini-channel was more
effective in controlling thermal behaviors, achieving a lower maximum
temperature and maximum temperature difference which was decreased
by 0.94 K, 0.78 K, 0.7 K and 0.56 K, 0.54 K, 0.52 K with a higher-pressure
loss which was increased by the 13.5 Pa, 18.46 Pa and 23.65 Pa in 1000
cycles as compared to X direction mini-channel. Besides, BTMS with Y
direction mini-channel also showed a better performance in controlling
SEI formation and capacity fade, where were decreased by 2.72 nm,
2.47 nm, 2.32 nm and 2.15 %, 2.08 %, 2.02 % respectively after 1000
cycles, leading to a higher average potential.
The optimization schemes were also proposed in this research to
ensure that the undesirable thermal performance could still be
controlled under long-term battery cycling. By adopting non-
equidistantly arranged mini-channel, maximum temperature and
maximum temperature difference in 1000 cycles was dropped by 0.8 K,
0.88 K, 0.91 K and 0.75 K, 0.83 K, 0.86 K with a similar pressure loss as
BTMS with equidistant mini-channel arrangement. Due to the ability of
CPFs in promoting 3D turbulent mixing and refreshing boundary layer,
the maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference in
1000 cycles of BTMS with CPFs were decreased by 0.65 K, 0.91 K, 1.03 K
and 0.57 K, 0.87 K, 1.01 K respectively but penalized with the higher
pressure loss. As for the BTMS with nanofluid, the addition of nano­
particles significantly enhanced the cooling performance of BTMS, and
the ability in controlling thermal behaviors became more effective as the
volume fraction of nanoparticles increased. However, the higher pres­
sure loss was inevitable for BTMS with nanofluid. Overall, these three
optimization schemes can be helpful for BTMS to provide effective
thermal manage for battery pack even the battery has been in operation
for 1000 cycles, and the optimized BTMSs also showed a better perfor­
mance in enhancing average potential and preventing battery aging.
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.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgement
This research is supported by a grant under the Theme-based Scheme
(project number: T23-601/17-R) from Research Grants Council, Uni­
versity Grants Committee, Hong Kong SAR.
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