Innovative System Design and Numerical Investigation Based on Air Cooling and Baffle Utilization in the Thermal Management of Lithium Ion Batteries

Effective management of temperature in battery packs, which are used in a wide range of applications from portable devices to electric vehicles, plays a critical role in terms of both efficiency and safety. In this study, a new air cooling thermal management system was designed to improve the thermal management of lithium ion battery packs and was comparatively examined with a conventional system. In the developed design, front and rear air inlets along with a top outlet were implemented, and baffles were added to achieve a more homogeneous distribution of airflow between the cells. The conventional system, on the other hand, was modeled based on the principle of front inlet and rear outlet without baffles. These two designs were compared through CFD analyses in terms of maximum battery temperature and maximum temperature difference. In the analyses, three different inlet air temperatures of 299.15 K, 294.15 K, and 289.15 K were investigated. The airflow velocity at the entrance of the battery pack was set to 0.5 m/s. The analysis results showed that the developed design reduced the maximum battery temperature and maximum temperature difference by 1.82-3.38 K and 2.48-4.29 K, respectively, compared to the conventional design.