Thermal management performance of flat heat pipe in prismatic battery module

Abstract

Heat pipe, as a highly effective heat transfer device, is widely applied in the field of battery thermal management system (BTMS), so its heat transfer performance is vital to battery safety. This study focuses on the influence of flat heat pipe (FHP) key parameters including orientations, arrangement and quantity on 3-cells BTMS thermal performance. Based on the baseline tests with localized heating on four FHP different orientations (gravity-supported, gravity-opposed, side-lying, and horizontal), the heat transfer performance of FHP is quantified, and the FHP-based BTMS thermal network model is developed different from the traditional thermal model. Results show that placing two heat pipes in side-lying configuration between all three cells yielded the best cooling performance, achieving average temperature below 50 °C and temperature difference within 4 °C under discharge rate of 3C without external energy input. The proposed numerical model achieves the simulating results agree with the experimental data with below 10 % discrepancy. Furthermore, this validated model extends to 10-cells and rapidly predicts the steady-state temperature distribution of the battery module under varying operation conditions within 10 s. This work proposes a framework for applying heat pipes in battery thermal management and guides cooling strategies for adopting various battery operations and preventing thermal runaway. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]