Thermal management systems´ design methodology for transport applications

More efficient use of energy and better environmental performance are becoming important requirements for the transport sector. Therefore, hybrid operation is increasingly being adopted in vehicles as a means of recovering braking energy. One of the most promising solutions is to develop mobile storage applications which consist of onboard energy storage systems (ESS). This technology requires large scale modules and packs conformed by large format lithium-ion cells. Safety is one of the main concerns regarding this technology, which is closely related to the cells´ operating behavior and temperature asymmetries in the system. Therefore, the temperature of cells in battery packs needs to be controlled by thermal management systems (TMSs). An improved design methodology of TMSs is proposed which involves the development of different mathematical models for heat generation, transmission and dissipation on the one hand and their coupling and integration in different simulation environments on the other hand. The methodology is validated by comparing simulation results with laboratory measurements on a single module of the battery pack designed in IK4-IKERLAN for a traction application. The models developed have shown the potential to be used in battery thermal management studies for EV/HEV applications since they allow for scalability with accuracy and reasonable simulation time which is of prime importance while designing the TMS.