Thermal performance of cylindrical Lithium-ion battery thermal management system based on air distribution pipe

•A novel cooling strategy based on the air distribution pipe is proposed for the cylindrical Lithium-ion battery module.•The 3D CFD model of the battery module based on the air distribution pipe is constructed.•The temperature of battery near the positive pole is higher than that near the negative pole during discharging.•The maximum temperature of battery module can be effectively reduced via increasing inlet pressure.•The maximum temperature of battery module declines when the diameter and number of rows for orifice become large. For a typical air cooling thermal management system, the inlet and outlet of air flow on both sides of the battery module would increase the temperature difference. In here, a novel cooling strategy based on air distribution pipes is proposed for the cylindrical Lithium-ion battery module. The three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of battery module is constructed and validated by the experimental tests. The thermal behavior of battery module and the flow field of air have been explored using numerical simulations at different discharge rates, and then the effects of orifice parameters, inlet pressure and discharge rate on the performance of air cooling strategy have been analyzed. The results show that the maximum temperature of the battery module can be effectively reduced by the increase of inlet pressure resulting in a significant rise of power consumption. Meanwhile, it declines when the diameter and number of rows of the orifice increase, following a minor rise in power consumption. When the inlet pressure is 100 Pa, the diameter of the orifice is 1.5 mm, the number of rows of the orifice is 5 and the discharge rate is 3C, the maximum temperature of battery module decreases from 325.9 K to 305.7 K in comparison to that under none air cooling condition. In addition, the maximum temperature difference of battery module is within 3 K. When the battery module discharge at the current rate of 4C and 5C, the maximum temperature of battery module maintains within 313.15 K, but the temperature difference slightly exceeds the optimal range at 5C discharge when the inlet pressure is 200 Pa, the diameter of the orifice is 1.5 mm and the number of rows of the orifice is 5. Moreover, it is an efficient and a practical cooling strategy with no need to modify the arrangement of the battery module.