Thermal management of Li-ion battery with phase change material for electric scooters: experimental validation

This work reports the laboratory test results of a Li-ion battery designed for electric scooter applications. Four different modes of heat dissipation were investigated in this experimental study: (1) natural convection cooling; (2) presence of aluminum foam heat transfer matrix; (3) use of phase change material (PCM); and (4) combination of aluminum foam and PCM. The objective of using the PCM is to lower the temperature rise of the Li-ion cells and create a uniform temperature distribution in the battery module. This is clearly justified looking at the experimental results presented in this work. The use of high thermal conductivity aluminum foam in the voids between the cells reduces the temperature rise of the Li-ion cells but is insufficient when operated in high ambient temperature such as those usually occur in summer. The use of aluminum foam with PCM causes a significant temperature drop of about 50% compared to the first case of no thermal management. It also provides uniform temperature distribution within the battery module, which is important for the efficient performance of the cells used. The laboratory results were modeled using a 2-D thermal model accounting for the four different modes of heat dissipation and good agreement was obtained between the simulation and experimental results.