Experimental study on the thermal management performance of phase change material coupled with heat pipe for cylindrical power battery pack

• Published in: Experimental thermal and fluid science Vol. 82; pp. 182 - 188
• Main Authors: Zhao, Jiateng, Lv, Peizhao, Rao, Zhonghao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier Inc 01.04.2017; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Air temperature; Batteries; Battery thermal management; Convection; Electric vehicles; Embedding; Energy management; Free convection; Heat pipe; Heat pipes; Maximum temperature; Phase change material; Phase change materials; Temperature; Temperature control; Temperature difference; Temperature effects; Thermal management; Battery thermal management; Temperature difference; Maximum temperature; Phase change material; Heat pipe
• ISSN: 0894-1777; 1879-2286
• DOI: 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2016.11.017

•An PCM/HP coupled BTM module was designed and constructed.•The function of HP can increase the temperature uniformity before the phase transition of PCM is completed.•The local temperature difference can be reduced obviously when filling PCM and embedding HP. The battery thermal management technology is vital for the development of new energy vehicles. In order to understand the performance of the phase change material/heat pipes (PCM/HP) coupled thermal management system for cylindrical power battery, an PCM/HP coupled BTM module was designed and tested experimentally in detail. The results showed that the effect of temperature control based on PCM is improved comparing to air-based BTM under natural convection. The maximum temperature of PCM/HP coupled BTM can be controlled below 50°C for longer time than those of the air-based case and PCM-based case under the same conditions. The temperature difference can be reduced about 33.6% through filling PCM and it can progress a decline of 28.9% further through embedding HP into the PCM. The maximum temperature difference of PCM/HP coupled BTM can be controlled below 5°C for longer time than those of the two other cases, air-based BTM and PCM-based BTM. It is almost the same in the first 620s under different velocities, which are all less than 5°C.