Experimental investigation on a hybrid battery thermal management system based on water circulation and Silicone oil for the battery pack of an electric vehicle

Battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) and their related challenges have become one of the hottest discussion items of every society of automotive engineering. The BTMSs are based on active cooling systems such as air-cooled or liquid-cooled one, or they benefit from passive systems such as those relying on phase change materials (PCMs) to create the cooling effect. Each of the mentioned systems has advantages and disadvantages which encourages engineers to mix them up to strengthen each one’s strengths and weaken the drawbacks. In the current investigation, a BTMS consisting of five Lithium-polymer battery cell is studied in detail. The thermal behavior of the cells was monitored while they were cooled by free-convection phenomenon of the atmospheric air and it was understood that the demand for a BTMS is highly sensible. The second attempt was to utilize Silicone oil to absorb heat from the cells. The outcomes showed that the oil could create a significant cooling effect, but the temperature gradient was very close to the safe limit border. The final attempt was to mix the cooling effect of Silicone oil with the cooling effect of cold water circulation inside the thermal tubes to lessen the surface temperature and temperature gradient of battery cells.

Keywords:

Battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) , Active BTMS , Passive BTMS , Silicone oil , Thermal tube installing