Influence of straight and inclined baffles on enhancement of battery thermal management system performance

Battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) are used in electric vehicles (EVs) to regulate the heat generated by batteries while in use. Existing research on the improvement of BTMSs revealed that more research can be done by exploring different strategies to extend the service life and capabilities of EV batteries beyond the current limitations. In this study, effects of orientation of baffles; straight (90°), inclined (60° and 30°), height of baffles, thickness of baffles, positioning of baffles and number of baffles on the performance of conventional Z – Type BTMS were studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. The CFD approach was validated with existing experimental result from literature. Findings from the study showed that for straight baffle, the maximum temperature (Tmax) reduces as the height of baffles decreases. Furthermore, increasing the baffle thickness from 1 mm to 2 mm, produced reduction in Tmax by 0.26 K. For inclined baffles, by comparing the BTMS without baffles and BTMS with 2 baffles, Tmax and maximum temperature difference (ΔTmax) reduced by 0.82 K and 0.68 K, respectively at angle 60°, and reduced by 1.65 K and 1.43 K, respectively at angle 30°. The BTMS with 2 baffles, inclined at angle 60°, with height of 6 mm and thickness of 1 mm, yielded the optimum Tmax (Lowest) value of 333.15 K, a reduction by 2.65 K when compared to the conventional Z – Type BTMS. This was also accompanied with a slight increase in ΔP by 1.12 Pa. In conclusion, it can be said that findings from this study will be beneficial in enhancing the design of BTMSs through adequate selection and utilization of baffles orientation.