Thermal performance of pouch Lithium-ion battery module cooled by phase change materials

Battery thermal management is of great significance for increasing the thermal safety and prolonging the service life of the electric vehicle battery pack. In this paper, the thermal property of pouch Lithium-ion battery module cooled by PCMs (Phase Change Materials) was investigated. The three-dimensional thermal models of battery modules consisted of different thickness batteries were established to study the effects of space between adjacent batteries, melting point and thermal conductivity of PCMs on cooling performance. The results showed that the T _max (maximum temperature) and ΔT _max (maximum temperature difference) declined when space between modules and thermal conductivity of PCMs increased. And the decline became more obviously with the increasing melting point of PCMs. T _max increased and ΔT _max declined as the melting point of PCMs increased. On the basis of the T _max of battery module meeting the temperature requirements, improving the space between adjacent batteries, melting point and thermal conductivity of PCM properly contributed to enhance the conformity of temperature filed. The conclusion would contribute to the design of battery thermal management system based on PCMs.