Thermal Characteristics of Air Flow Cooling in the Lithium Ion Batteries Experimental Chamber

A battery pack prototype has been designed and built to evaluate various air cooling concepts for the thermal management of Li-ion batteries. The heat generation from the Li-Ion batteries was simulated with electrical heat generation devices, with the same dimensions as the Li-Ion battery (200mm × 150mm × 12mm). Each battery imitator generates up to 15W of heat. There are 20 temperature probes placed uniformly on the surface of the battery imitator, which can measure temperatures in the range from −40 °C to +120 °C. The experimental chamber has 2 battery imitators. All temperatures are recorded using a PC based DAQ system. We can measure the average surface temperature of the imitator, temperature distribution on each surface and temperature distributions of the chamber. The pack which holds the battery imitators is built as a crate, with adjustable gap (varies from 2mm to 5mm) between the imitators for air flow channel studies. The total system flow rate and the inlet flow temperature are controlled during the test. The cooling channel with various heat transfer enhancing devices can be installed between the imitators to investigate the cooling performance. The pack is thermally isolated, which prevents heat transfer from it to the surroundings. The flow device can provide the air flow rate in the gap of up to 5m/s velocity and air temperature in the range from −30 °C to +50 °C. Test results are compared with computational modeling of the test configurations. The present test set up will be used for future tests to develop and validate new cooling concepts, such as surface conditions or heat pipes.