“A Review on Battery Thermal management

System of Electric Vehicle”

Shantanu A.Waman Prof.S.S.Shinde
Master of Technology (Heat Power Engineering) Mechanical Engineering Department
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune
shanwaman14@gmail.com sunil.shinde@vit.edu

Abstract- Now a day due to increase in fuel costs, fuel crises

Chemical name Material Short form Note
and increase in pollution concern, the electric and hybrid High capacity;
electric vehicles (EV/HEV) and plug-in vehicles (PHEV) has Lithium LiCoO2 Li- cobalt for cell
grown. In the EVs main source of energy are the batteries. Cobalt phone
Out of the different battery chemistries Li-Ion battery Oxide laptop, camera
having highest power density as compare to other battery Most safe;
Lithium LiMn2O4 Li- lower capacity
type which make them most suitable for EV application. But
Manganese manganese than Li- cobalt
while using these batteries there is problem of heat Oxide
generation in the battery which affect the performance, but high
Lithium Iron LiFePO4 Li- specific power
reliability and safety. In order to overcome these problems
Phosphate phosphate and long life.
the battery thermal management system (BTMS) is Power
necessary. This paper gives the review on need of BTMS, the Lithium LiNiMnCo NMC tools,
different types of BTMS and comparison of different BTMS Nickel O2 e-bikes,
technologies. Manganese EV,
Cobalt Oxide medical
etc.
Keywords—EV;HEV;PHEV;BTMS Lithium LiNiCoAlO NCA Gaini
Nickel 2 ng
I. INTRODUCTION Cobalt impor
Aluminium tance
In the EV and HEVs the main energy sources are the Oxide in
batteries. Hence, the demand for rechargeable batteries Lithium titanate electri
increased to a well extent. Also, the proper battery should Li4Ti5O12 Li- titanate c
be selected such that they satisfy the required demand of Power train
and grid
vehicle like high energy density, high power, high storage
reliability etc. Hence, the battery choice is very crucible
and it requires satisfying important characteristics. Table 1:Li-Ion Battery classifications [2]
Also, in case of HEV battery should able to give a large
amount of energy in a short period of time. So the battery However, performance, lifetime and safety are mainly
not only needs to store a large amount of energy but also affected by the temperature that is developed during
should be able to deliver considerable energy in a short operation. Generally the ideal temperature range for
time (high power). Li-ion batteries have high power
efficient working of Li-Ion batteries is 15°C to 35 °C.
density comparing to other chemistries and this property
Hence, the thermal management of batteries is necessary
along with other benefits of this batteries make them the
in order to reach the maximum performance when
main runner for energy storage in EV/HEVs.
operating at various conditions. Hence, an efficient BTMS
The following are the main advantages of Li-Ion battery
is required to ensure good performance of the cells and to
over the other battery chemistries:
maintain the temperature within the narrow range [3].
 High energy density
 High power density
II.THEORY OF HEAT GENERATION IN A CELL
 Very low self-discharge
 High energy to weight ratio
The heat generated by a particular battery is needed for
 Fast charging
proper design of a thermal management system. In the
 Good Durability [1,16]
battery the heat generated by a battery is due to resistive
losses and the enthalpy changes due to electrochemical
The batteries are classified based on cathode oxides as
reactions during charge or discharge.
anode material remain same as graphite. Each of these
having different characteristics and application which is
given in following table 1[2]:
Heat generation rate from a battery module depends on
several factors;
 Chemistry and construction
 Battery temperature
 Charge and discharge rate profile
 Initial and final state of charge
The battery heat generation rate was estimated based on
joule heating and entropy change. The heat generation in a
battery during electrochemical process i.e. during
charging and discharging is given by,
The air system can offers full functions of heating,
cooling and ventilation. It must be noted that the
exhaust air cannot be returned to the cabin again. For
this an air to air heat exchanger is required which is
mounted after the battery pack in order to recover the
heat from the exhaust air. Due to this there is no mixing
of exhaust air with intake air and also provide an extra
saving potential.

g = Qirr + Qrev

g= [(Voc-V)-T ]
Fig.1 (a): Passive System (Air)

g = I2R- T
In the above equation,
g = Heat generation (w/m3)
Voc = open circuit voltage (V)
R = Internal Resistance of battery (Ω)
I = current (A)
= Entropic coefficient (V/K)
T = battery temperature (K)
= battery volume (m3)
From the above equation we can get the heat generation in Fig.1 (b): Active System (Air)
a battery [4][17].
Besides air, liquid is another heat transfer fluid to transfer
III.REVIEW OF LITERATURE
heat. The liquid cooling system is also classified into two
There are different types of thermal management types. First one is direct cooling system in which liquid
systems are available. Out of which the particular used is mineral oil. In this system batteries are directly
BTMS is selected depending upon required cooling or submerged in the oil by providing the proper insulation to
heating load, ease of manufacturing and cost. The them to avoid any short circuits. Whereas in indirect
following are the different types of BTMS described cooling liquid used is a mixture of ethylene glycol and
below: water. In this system liquid is not in direct contact with
batteries. The liquid is passed through tubing around
Air thermal management system is most simple
battery. Thus indirect liquid cooling provide better
form of BTMS. It is least complicated and does not
require any complicated design. Hence, this is used in isolation between battery and surrounding and thus gives
most of the available EVs in the market. As name better safety performance.
indicates it uses air as working medium. It is basically By different heat-sinks for cooling, liquid systems can
classified into two types depending upon the condition also be categorized into either passive systems or active
systems. In passive liquid system, the liquid is cooled by
of air. The first one is passive air system which is
shown in Fig.1 (a) schematically. In this atmospheric radiator and then it provide on battery pack for cooling.
air is simply blown on battery pack and exhausted to But this system has no ability to heat. Fig. 2 (a) presents
the atmosphere. It is least expensive BTMS among all the systematic scheme of a passive liquid system. Heat
types. Whereas active air cooling system uses transfer fluid is circulated by the pump within a closed
conditioned air. That is air is cooled or heated in the system. In this system the cooling power depends strongly
on the temperature between ambient air and battery. The
HVAC system and then finally blown over a battery
pack. This system is somewhat complicated and costly. cooling performance can be improved by fans behind the
Also, this system can be used in the vehicles where radiator. But if the difference between atmospheric air and
HVAC system is available. The schematic of this battery temperature is too small then the passive liquid
system is as shown in Fig.1 (b). Active systems can system becomes ineffective.
offer additional cooling or heating power. A passive
system can offer some hundreds of watts cooling or
heating power and an active system power is limited to
1 kW.

Fig.2 (a): Passive System (Liquid)
Fig.2 (b): Active System (Liquid)
Fig. 2 (b) shows the systematic scheme of an active liquid
system. In this system liquid is passed over a battery pack. Before
this it is cooled by evaporator in case of cooling or condenser in
case of heating. The exhausted liquid is cooled by radiator. In
order to switch between condenser to evaporator and vice
versa a four way valve is used (which is not shown in fig).
[5, 18]
The direct refrigerant system (DRS) is similar to active
liquid cooling system i.e. it consists of an A/C loop. But in
DRS the working medium is refrigerant. But such type of
system is costly and not commonly used.
Another type of BTMS is heat pipe. The structure of a
heat pipe is shown in Fig.3. It consists of flat copper
envelope which was under partial vacuum. In heat pipe
water is used as a working medium. Due to the low
pressure inside the envelope water becomes vapor at a
lower temperature than 100°C.On evaporator side water
absorbs heat from outside and becomes vapor. These
vapors are flow through heat pipe and on condenser side
these vapors becomes liquid and this cycle repeats again
and again.
Fig.3: Structure of Heat Pipe
As there are no moving parts inside heat pipe it is more
reliable and it does not require any energy source. But heat
pipe cannot use alone since it is not much effective. Also,
it’s fixed structure layout it is unable to heat battery [6].
The passive air cooling system cannot be used alone.
Its heating or cooling power is enhanced through thermo-
electric module, which is introduced here.
Fig.4: Thermoelectric cooling/Heating System
As the name indicated thermo-electric module have an
ability to convert electric voltage to temperature difference
and vice versa. That is, by consuming electricity it
transfers heat directly. When thermo-electric module is
combined with passive air cooling system the battery pack
can be cool down to a temperature lower than a intake
temperature of air but the power is still limited to around
some hundreds of watts and less than one kW. In this
method it is easy to switch between heating and cooling by
simply changing the poles of electrodes.
The phase change material (PCM) is a material which
absorbed heat during melting and stored it as a latent heat
until the latent heat is up to the maximum. Hence, it can
also be one of the option of BTMS. Mostly paraffin,
stearic acid can be used as a PCM. In some cases water
also used as a PCM. In PCM the temperature is kept at
melting point for a period and the temperature increase is
delayed. Therefore, PCM is used as conductor and buffer
in battery thermal management systems. Also, a PCM is
always combined with air cooling system or liquid cooling
system to manage the battery temperature [14, 20].
Dafen Chen et.al in his paper analyzed four methods of
BTMS based on the model: air cooling, direct liquid
cooling, indirect liquid cooling, and fin cooling. The four
cooling methods are compared by different parameters like
increase in weight of the system, power consumption and
average temperature decreased of battery. The simulation
results are useful to battery pack designers of electrical
vehicle to assess and choose a proper cooling method
under the volumetric constraints. They can also get a
usable flow rate of different cooling methods for a specific
control target. From this study, the following conclusions
can be drawn:
1. Air cooling consumes the most parasitic power.
2. As compare to other systems fin cooling adds the more
extra weight for the same volume.
3. By considering the realistic heat transfer coefficient
range and fan power range in an electric car both fin
cooling and air cooling are constrained by minimum
average temperature rise
4. Because of the longest coolant channel indirect liquid
cooling has the highest maximum temperature difference
point, but the maximum temperature difference decreases
more quickly after the highest value than in other methods
because of the higher heat capacity of water/glycol
coolant.
5. The liquid cooling has the higher heat transfer rate as
compare to air cooling method but liquid cooling system is
somewhat complicated and costly [7].
IV.CONCLUSION
Thus, from this we can conclude that,
 Due to higher energy density the Li-Ion is most
commonly used cell chemistry for EV/HEV
application.
 One of the major issue with batteries are they
lose charge over a time. Out of different battery
types Li-Ion batteries having lowest rate of self -
discharge which is very useful for EV/HEV
application.[12]
 A well designed temperature regulation is the
basic requirement of BTMS.[13]
 Battery thermal management system plays an
important role in performance and safety of
Electric Vehicle.[11,15]
 For better battery life and better energy
efficiency the temperature must be kept within
the desire range and low temperature gradient
should be maintained.[13]
 Li-Ion battery gives the maximum performance
within the range of 15 °C to 35 °C. Hence, for
ideal results battery pack must be operate within
this range.[13]
 Air system, liquid system, direct refrigeration
system, heat pipe system and thermoelectric
system are the different types of BTMS.[7,19]
 Air cooling system is least expensive, less
complicated system as compare to other
systems.[8]
 Liquid cooling system is one of the most
effective system as compare to other systems.[9]
 Direct refrigeration system can be used only
when there is an air conditioning system is
present in a vehicle.
 Heat pipe and thermoelectric system are used
combined with passive air cooling system in
order to increase performance of the BTMS.[7]
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