Direct Comparison of Immersion and Cold-Plate Based Cooling for Automotive Li-Ion Battery Modules

Prahit Dubey, Gautam Pulugundla and A. K. Srouji
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Prahit Dubey: Romeo Power Technology, 4380 Ayers Ave, Vernon, CA 90058, USA
Gautam Pulugundla: Romeo Power Technology, 4380 Ayers Ave, Vernon, CA 90058, USA
A. K. Srouji: Romeo Power Technology, 4380 Ayers Ave, Vernon, CA 90058, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: The current paper evaluates the thermal performance of immersion cooling for an Electric Vehicle (EV) battery module comprised of NCA-chemistry based cylindrical 21700 format Lithium-ion cells. Efficacy of immersion cooling in improving maximum cell temperature, cell’s temperature gradient, cell-to-cell temperature differential, and pressure drop in the module are investigated by direct comparison with a cold-plate-cooled battery module. Parametric analyses are performed at different module discharge C-rates and coolant flow rates to understand the sensitivity of each cooling strategy to important system performance parameters. The entire numerical analysis is performed using a validated 3 D time-accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology in STAR-CCM+. Results demonstrate that immersion cooling due its higher thermal conductance leads to a lower maximum cell temperature and lower temperature gradients within the cells at high discharge rates. However, a higher rate of heat rejection and poor thermal properties of the dielectric liquid results in a much higher temperature non-uniformity across the module. At lower discharge rates, the two cooling methods show similar thermal performance. Additionally, owing to the lower viscosity and density of the considered dielectric liquid, an immersion-cooled battery module performs significantly better than the cold-plate-cooled module in terms of both coolant pressure drop.

Keywords: Li-ion battery module; NCA 21700 cylindrical cells; thermal management system (TMS); dielectric liquid; immersion cooling; cold-plate cooling; computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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