Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd) Analysis of Graphene Nanoplatelets for the Cooling of a Multiple Tier Li-Ion Battery Pack

A customized Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) based battery pack was designed using a Finite Element (FE) based model and simulated using a coolant containing 0.001vol% and 0.005vol% Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs) in a mixture of Ethylene Glycol (EG) and water (50:50) to assess the effectiveness in lowering the operating temperature within the battery pack. Three variations of the battery pack were simulated as one tier, two tier, and three tier systems to optimize the effectiveness and surface contact of the flowing coolant with the heated batteries. The pack's temperature was set to 60°C, and a simulation study was run over a 15-second period of fluid flow to determine final temperature conditions. In comparison to pure EG/water fluid, temperature was reduced by about 12% to 24% for 0.001vol % GNP/EG/water fluid and 24% to 29% for 0.005vol % GNP/EG/water fluid. The increased cooling capacity supplied by these coolant fluids are attributed to GNPs high thermal conductivity and larger surface area. From an initial temperature of 60°C, the final temperature range for these designs was 42.250°C to 45.760°C, which is within the 45°C operational temperature range for Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) used in electric vehicles (EVs)