A technical review on composite phase change material based secondary assisted battery thermal management system for electric vehicles

Abstract Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) plays a significant role in determining the Electric vehicles (EVs) operating range and battery operating life cycle. Indeed, Phase Change Material (PCM) with outstanding characteristics like passive energy utilization to cool the battery, low cost, and effective operation seems to be an attractive option to be used for BTMS of EVs. However, opting for an exact PCM for the required application of the battery system depends completely on the thermal properties of PCM. Therefore, drawbacks and the advancement of PCM integrated BTMS compared to others should be scrutinized to have a comprehensive assessment on the PCM-integrated BTMS. The present review article majorly focuses on: i) - Advanced thermal properties of organic, inorganic, and eutectic PCM for integration with BTMS; ii) - Secondary assisted PCM cooling system for BTMS; iii) - Experimental development carried out with incorporation of composite PCM with BTMS; iv) - Economic comparative analysis on integrating PCM with EVs; v) - Critical analysis on environmental benefits of PCM based BTMS for EVs. In addition, the key outcomes of utilizing nanoparticle dispersed PCM into battery systems are highlighted. A separate section has been elaborated on the techniques used to overcome the drawbacks of thermal conductivity in PCMs. Finally, critical analysis and consolidation of experimentally hybridized and analyzed composite PCM for performance enhancement of batteries presented in the article would be a hot spot for future research work on EVs.