Empirical Thermal Performance Investigation of a Compact Lithium Ion Battery Module under Forced Convection Cooling

Lithium ion batteries (LiBs) are considered one of the most suitable power options for electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains, known for having low self-discharging properties which hence provide a long life-cycle operation. To obtain maximum power output from LiBs, it is necessary to critically monitor operating conditions which affect their performance and life span. This paper investigates the thermal performance of a battery thermal management system (BTMS) for a battery pack housing 100 NCR18650 lithium ion cells. Maximum cell temperature (Tmax) and maximum temperature difference (ΔTmax) between cells were the performance criteria for the battery pack. The battery pack is investigated for three levels of air flow rate combined with two current rate using a full factorial Design of Experiment (DoE) method. A worst case scenario of cell Tmax averaged at 36.1 °C was recorded during a 0.75 C charge experiment and 37.5 °C during a 0.75 C discharge under a 1.4 m/s flow rate. While a 54.28% reduction in ΔTmax between the cells was achieved by increasing the air flow rate in the 0.75 C charge experiment from 1.4 m/s to 3.4 m/s. Conclusively, increasing BTMS performance with increasing air flow rate was a common trend observed in the experimental data after analyzing various experiment results.