Numerical modeling and experimental investigation of a prismatic battery subjected to water cooling

ABSTRACTIn this paper, a numerical model using ANSYS Fluent for a minichannel cold plate is developed for water-cooled LiFePO4 battery. The temperature and velocity distributions are investigated using experimental and computational approach at different C-rates and boundary conditions (BCs). In this regard, a battery thermal management system (BTMS) with water cooling is designed and developed for a pouch-type LiFePO4 battery using dual cold plates placed one on top and the other at the bottom of a battery. For these tasks, the battery is discharged at high discharge rates of 3C (60 A) and 4C (80 A) and with various BCs of 5°C, 15°C, and 25°C with water cooling in order to provide quantitative data regarding the thermal behavior of lithium-ion batteries. Computationally, a high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was also developed for a minichannel cold plate, and the simulated data are then validated with the experimental data for temperature profiles. The present results show that increa...