Numerical study of simultaneous use of non-Newtonian hybrid nano-coolant and thermoelectric system in cooling of lithium-ion battery and changes in the flow geometry

Abstract

This study simulated a thermoelectric (TEC) used to cool a lithium-ion plate battery. The cold part of the TEC is placed on a battery and the hot part is cooled by a heatsink. Three different types of heatsinks are used. The heatsink working fluid is a non-Newtonian hybrid nanofluid (NFs). COMSOL software is used to run the simulations. The values of heatsink temperature, battery temperature, and TEC hot part temperature are estimated by changing the inlet Reynolds number (Re) in the range of 200–800 for NFs with volume fractions of 0.05%, 0.25%, and 0.5%. The voltage amount in TEC, pressure drop (ΔP) in the heatsink, and the temperature of the outlet NFs are also determined. The results show that the use of model C leads to higher TEC temperatures. At low and high Re, models A and model B keep the battery temperature and heatsink lower. An increase in the Re lowers the temperature of the battery, TEC, and heatsink while increasing the amount of ΔP. Model C and Model A have the greatest and least ΔP, respectively. The addition of nanoparticles (NPs) boosts the ΔP by 267% and around 95% at Re = 20 and Re = 800, respectively.