A thermal analysis of a spirally wound battery using a simple mathematical model

A two-dimensional thermal model for spirally wound batteries has been developed. The governing equation of the model is the energy balance. Convective and insulated boundary conditions are used, and the equations are solved using a finite element code called TOPAZ2D. The finite element mesh is generated using a preprocessor to TOPAZ2D called MAZE. The model is used to estimate temperature profiles within a spirally wound D-size cell. The model is applied to the lithium/thionyl chloride cell because of the thermal management problems that this cell exhibits. Simplified one-dimensional models are presented that can be used to predict best and worst temperature profiles. The two-dimensional model is used to predict the regions of maximum temperature within the spirally wound cell. Normal discharge as well as thermal runaway conditions are investigated.