A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE MICRO-CHANNEL COLD PLATE ON THE COOLING PERFORMANCE OF BATTERY THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Abstract

Li-ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles for their superior performance. To investigate a simple and efficient method for the Li-ion power batteries, the cold plate with four types of structures A, B, C, and D were established, respectively. Subsequently, the effects of micro-channel thickness and width on the cooling performance of battery thermal management systems were analyzed by using a numerical simulation method. The results show that with the increases of the micro-channel thickness, the maximum temperature, Tmax, of the cold plate is gradually increased under structures A, B, and C, while it is gradually decreased under structure D. The standard deviation of temperature, Tσ, of the cold plate of structure A was less affected by the change of the micro-channel thickness. Under structures B, C, and D, the temperature uniformity of the cold plate can be well maintained when the micro-channel thickness was 1.0 mm. With the increase of the micro-channel width, the Tmax and Tσ of the cold plate are gradually increased in all cases, while the ΔP from the inlet to outlet is gradually decreased. The temperature uniformity of the cold plate is well maintained by structure C. The decreasing amount and changing range of AP caused by the change of micro-channel width is smaller than caused by the change of the thickness.