Journal Pre-proof

Development and Analysis of a New Tube Based Cylindrical Battery

Cooling System with Liquid to Vapor Phase Change

Maan Al-Zareer , Ibrahim Dincer , Marc A. Rosen

PII: S0140-7007(19)30376-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2019.08.027
Reference: JIJR 4507

To appear in: International Journal of Refrigeration

Received date: 18 July 2019

Revised date: 20 August 2019
Accepted date: 22 August 2019

Please cite this article as: Maan Al-Zareer , Ibrahim Dincer , Marc A. Rosen , Development and Anal-
ysis of a New Tube Based Cylindrical Battery Cooling System with Liquid to Vapor Phase Change,
International Journal of Refrigeration (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2019.08.027

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 Development and Analysis of a New Tube Based Cylindrical Battery Cooling System with
Liquid to Vapor Phase Change
Maan Al-Zareer, Ibrahim Dincer, and Marc A. Rosen
Clean Energy Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of
Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4, Canada
Emails: maan.al-zareer@uoit.ca, ibrahim.dincer@uoit.ca, marc.rosen@uoit.ca
Tel: (+1) 905.721.8668 ext. 6209/ Fax: (+1) 905.721.3062

Abstract

A new battery cooling system for thermal management is proposed that exploits the high heat
transfer rates of boiling using the fuel of hybrid electric vehicles. The new design incorporates
fuel boiling within tubes embedded in the aluminum block that house the batteries. One of the
advantages of the proposed system is the prevention of direct contact between the fuel and the
batteries. The proposed system uses tubes, distributed through the battery pack, which contain
stationary boiling fuel. The aluminum conducts the heat away from the batteries to the coolant
undergoing phase change in the tubes. The aims of having the aluminum block between the
boiling coolant and the batteries is to reduce the temperature distribution through the battery
pack and the temperature difference across each battery compared to the direct contact, to lower
the amount of vehicle fuel in the battery pack, and to eliminate direct contact between the
batteries and the coolant. The performance of the proposed thermal management system is
assessed through simulation for a 600 s charging and discharging cycle of a rate of 6C and 4C.
At a rate of 6C it is found that the proposed system achieves a 1oC higher than the direct contact
pool and propane based system in terms of the maximum battery temperature, however it had a
similar variation pattern. However, the proposed system achieves a maximum temperature
difference of 3.5oC compared to a 10oC difference in the pool and propane based system.
Keywords: Cooling system, battery pack, electric vehicle, cylindrical battery, boiling.

Nomenclature
a Specific interfacial area (m2/m3)
bLi Concentration of lithium ions in solid (mol/dm3)
bs Salt concentration (mol/dm3)
cp Specific heat capacity (J kg-1 K-1)
C C-rate, with value of battery nominal capacity (A)
Ds Salt diffusion coefficient (cm2/s)
DLi Lithium diffusion coefficient in solid electrode (cm2/s)
g Gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s2)
I Electrical current (A)
i2 Superficial current density in solution phase (mA/cm2)

1
k Thermal conductivity (W m-2)
L length (m)
̇ Heat rate (W)
t Time (s)
T Temperature (°C or K)

Greek letters
Mass density (kg m-3)
Velocity (m/s)
Volume fraction
Summation
Subscripts
b Battery
i Battery cell layer
p Pressure
r Radial
z Z-axis
Acronyms
BTMSs Battery thermal management systems
EV Electric vehicle
EES Engineering Equation Solver
HEV Hybrid electric vehicle
Li-ion Lithium ion
PCM Phase change material

1. Introduction
Due to their power capabilities and high specific energy (volume basis), lithium ion (Li-ion)
batteries are an attractive energy storage technology for a wide range of applications, from
wearable electronics to electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Batteries that supply electric
vehicles with the required power are often arranged in parallel and/or series, forming battery
packs. The performance and the safety of Li-ion batteries are directly affected by high or
unbalanced operating temperatures, highlighting the importance of thermal management systems
[1,2].

Much research effort has been dedicated to determining best practices and efficient
methods for developing battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) [3,4]. Several aspects of
BTMS design were discussed with a special focus on batteries used in electric and hybrid electric
vehicles [5]. To simplify the assessment and simulation of batteries, Al Hallaj et al. [6] studied
the impact of simplifying the battery through simulating the temperature profiles inside a
cylindrical Li-ion battery using a one dimensional mathematical model. Ref. [6] assessed two Li-
2
ion cells with capacities of 10 Ah and 100 Ah discharged at a different rates and operating
conditions, including the cooling rate. Ref. [6] found that at a lower cooling rate the battery can
be modeled with acceptable accuracy as a lumped system with a uniform temperature; however
at higher cooling rates a significant temperature gradient develops within the battery, which
suggest modeling the battery as a distributed system when assessing the performance of BTMS.
However, some researchers, such as in Al-Zareer et al. [7], propose modeling the
electrochemical reactions in a one dimensional model while the thermal distribution through the
battery is modeled with a three dimensional model. This is because the electrochemical reaction
sensitivity to the temperature gradient through the cylindrical battery can be neglected for cases
where the BTMS has a high cooling rate. In addition, since most BTMSs are designed to
maintain the operating temperature of the battery within the optimum operation range, modeling
the electrochemical reactions at the average temperature of the battery predicts the heat
generation rate with acceptable accuracy [7].

Li-ion batteries operating at high temperatures, well above the optimum operation range,
can experience electrolyte explosion and thermal runaway [8–11]. Ramadass et al. [12] analyzed
the electrical performance of a cylindrical Li-ion battery (specifically Sony 18650 cell) at various
operating temperatures within and beyond the optimum range. Ref. [12] concluded that the
battery experiences capacity loss when the battery operating temperature exceeds the optimum
operation range. Based on the Li-ion battery capacity loss at problematic operating temperatures,
Ramadass et al. [12] defined the optimum operation range from -10oC to 40oC. It is important for
a BTMS to keep the battery operating temperature within the optimum operation range, requiring
the system needs to heat the batteries at times and cool them at others. This paper focuses on the
cooling action of the BTMS proposed here.

BTMSs can be categorized in several ways, one of which is based on the phase of the
coolant while cooling the batteries in the pack. The three main BTMS categories based on
coolant phase are air, liquid and phase change material (PCM). Recently, a fourth category was
proposed by Al-Zareer et al. [7] in which the coolant changes phase from liquid to vapor while
cooling the batteries in the pack. BTMSs can be further categorized into two main categories
based on whether the cooling system is active (i.e., it actively monitors the temperatures of the
batteries and responds accordingly) or passive (i.e., it responds passively based on the physical
nature of the coolant, without a control or sensor system) [13–15]. For example, PCM based
BTMSs are passive systems. As long as the temperature of the battery is equal to the melting
temperature of the PCM, the BTMSs provides no cooling nor heating. But when the temperature
of the battery rises above the melting temperature of the PCM, the PCM cooling effect is
passively activated, as the PCM receives the heat from the batteries and cools them. Based on the
working principles of passive and active systems, the power consumed by passive systems is
small compared to active systems. The coolant in a BTMS, whether passive or active, can be in
direct contact with the batteries or can absorb the heat from the batteries through a heat
conduction medium between it and the batteries.

3
 Air is the dominant cooling fluid in gaseous phase BTMSs, mainly because it is
noncombustible, nontoxic and widely available [9,16,17]. Air based BTMSs use the flow of air
through the battery pack to remove the battery generated heat from the battery, cooling the
battery and keeping its temperature within the optimum range [18,19]. Based on how the air flow
is induced through the pack, air based BTMSs can be categorized into forced air flow and natural
air flow. In the first category, the air flow is induced by a power assisted device such as a
compressor or a fan. In natural air flow BTMSs, the air flow is induced either by the movement
of the vehicle or due to the air flow induced inside the vehicle cabin. One of the advantages of air
based systems is that they do not require the recycling auxiliary components to recycle the
coolant; rather the air is released to the environment. Disadvantages of air based systems include
their high energy consumption to achieve acceptable cooling rates compared to liquid and PCM
based systems, and air’s low specific heat capacity and low thermal conductivity. In PCM based
BTMSs, the coolant changes phase while cooling or heating the batteries in the pack. In such
systems, the PCM usually undergoes phase change between solid and liquid phases [20–22]. The
melting temperature of the PCM is usually selected to be in the middle of the optimum
temperature operating range.
Of the three coolant phase BTMS categorizes, PCM based systems operates passively
and consume the least energy [22]. Having the cooling provided by latent heat changes, the
cooling effect of such systems is provided at the constant melting temperature of the PCM.
Absorbing heat from the batteries at a constant temperature leads to high battery pack
temperature uniformity compared to the air and liquid based BTMSs [23]. BTMSs with the
coolant in the liquid phase often use a water-glycol mixture as the coolant [24]. Liquid based
BTMSs are active systems, driven by power assisted devices that move the coolant throughout
the battery pack. In addition, liquid based systems require recycling devices to remove the heat
from the used coolant and prepare it for another cooling cycle. Liquid cooling systems at a
comparable operating parameters achieve lower battery temperatures than air and PCM based
cooling systems [7].

The liquid to vapor phase change system proposed by Al-Zareer et al. [25] achieves the
lowest temperature difference across each battery in the pack when the boiling pool height
completely covers the batteries in the pack. One of the disadvantages of that system is that, when
the hybrid vehicle fuel is spent, the cooling system stops working since it has no coolant. A
disadvantage of conduction cooling systems is the low thermal capacity of the metal, since it has
a low volume. Recently Al-Zareer et al. [26] proposed having a cold plate of aluminum
separating between prismatic batteries, while having the phase change coolant contained inside
tubes within the cold plate. This paper proposes a tube based system with cylindrical batteries, in
which the liquid to vapor system acts as a regenerator that cools the aluminum block separating
the batteries and the phase changing material, in order to provide equal cooling to all batteries in
the pack. This system is similar to that considered by Al-Zareer et al. [26], but with a different
battery geometry. The performance of the proposed system is assessed through modeling a

4
symmetrical portion of the pack, including two halves of the cooling tubes and two quarters of
the cylindrical batteries, in integrated electrochemical and heat and mass transfer models. The
proposed system performance is simulated for various design and operating conditions.

2. Modeling and Analysis

A BTMS is proposed here for hybrid electric vehicles that have a combustion engine powered by
pressurized liquid propane. The proposed system follows the main idea proposed by the authors
in [25], where the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) fuel is used first as a coolant for the batteries
and then it is injected into the engine to produce power and drive the vehicle or charge the
batteries. The coolant changes phase from liquid to vapor to cool the batteries. The main
advantage of the proposed system is that it exploits the high heat transfer rate of boiling to cool
the batteries. Another advantage that results from using the vehicle fuel to cool the battery
through boiling is that the generated superheated vapor fuel is injected into the engine in the
vapor phase, which increases the combustion efficiency [27]. Rowley [27] determined
experimentally that injecting the propane into the combustion chamber in the vapor phase
increased the combustion engine efficiency to allow a fuel economy of 18.3 km per liter
compared to 12.8 km per liter when the fuel is injected in the liquid phase. Note that in this paper
changing phase from liquid to vapor is referred to as boiling to avoid using the confusion of
using the term PCM, which is often used to refer to materials that changes phase from solid to
liquid and vice versa in BTMSs.

A schematic diagram of the proposed battery thermal management system integrated with
the battery pack is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1(a) shows the structure of the battery pack. Tubes
are embedded inside an aluminum block, which houses the boiling tubes as well as the batteries
and is shown in Figure 1(b). The thermal management system is designed so that it operates
passively. The liquid fuel in the tubes is always maintained at a specified height, with the supply
coming from the bottom of the tube as shown in Figure 1, and the generated vapor rising to leave
the tube to the collection chamber above the aluminum block. As shown in Figure 1, the liquid
propane fills the tubes and, when the battery temperature increases above the saturation
temperature, natural convention occurs and pool boiling commences. The liquid boils by
absorbing the generated heat from the batteries, which in turn cools the batteries and maintains
them at the optimum operating temperature. The boiling temperature of the propane in the tubes
is determined based on the pressure the propane; this is set to and maintained at 10 bar, which
corresponds to a saturation temperature of 26.94oC.

The proposed cooling system is modeled, simulated and analyzed with COMSOL
Multiphysics simulation software. The model developed in COMSOL imports necessary material
properties from Engineering Equation Solver (EES), including thermal conductivity, viscosity
and specific heat capacity. In this study, we use the heat transfer and fluid flow model for boiling
that was previously developed by the authors and validated with experimental data. That model
is applied to the case of natural convection and boiling of the propane filling the tubes in the

5
battery pack [25]. COMSOL Multiphysics is a finite element solver that can simulate various
physical phenomena as well as the integration of them [28]. EES is an iterative solver with a
database of material properties and various fluid flow and heat transfer correlations [29]. The
performance of the proposed system is investigated considering variations of such design and
operating parameters as the diameter of the boiling tubes and the charging and discharging rate.
As shown in Figure 2, two sizes of boiling propane tubes are considered: a radius equal to that of
the battery mandrel (2 mm) and a radius of half the first case (1 mm). The performance of the
proposed designs are simulated for 300 seconds charging at two current rates: 4C and 6C. Here,
4C refers to four times the battery C-rate, where C-rate is the measurement of the charge and
discharge current with respect to the battery nominal capacity. The next subsection presents
details on the numerical models developed to simulate the proposed system.

2.1 Numerical simulation

To investigate the performance of the proposed BTMS and how it is able to modify the
maximum battery temperature and the maximum battery temperature difference, separate models
are developed to simulate the battery pack integrated with the proposed system. The first model
is responsible for simulating the electrochemical reactions; it considers the electrical
performance of the battery and its reaction to variation in battery temperature. The second model
predicts the heat and temperature distribution through the three dimensional structure of the
battery pack and BTMS. The internal structure of the battery is presented in Figure 2, where it is
seen that the cylindrical battery is made of three layers that are wrapped around a 4 mm diameter
mandrel. The resulting cylindrical structure is housed in a battery canister made of 0.25 mm
thick steel. The wrapped layers make up the active part of the battery, which stores and
discharges the electrical energy. Next, simulation of the active part of the battery is required to
capture the electrical behavior of the battery. For a cylindrical battery such as the one considered
in this paper, which is the 18650 battery, the variation in the electrochemical behavior through
all the dimensions of the battery can be neglected relative to those that occur in one battery cell.
Then, the electrochemical performance of the battery is assessed through a one dimensional
electrochemical model [30]. The domain and boundary conditions used in this one dimensional
model that are presented in Figure 4. The one dimensional electrochemical model is developed
based on the model of Doyle and Newman [30], which has also been adapted in the present
authors’ previous work [25].

The electrochemical and heat and temperature distribution models interact to determine
the characteristics of the proposed thermal management system. In the interaction, the one
dimensional electrochemical model sends the average heat generation rate at each instant in time
through the simulation based on the battery average temperature that the models receives from
the heat and temperature distribution model. Note for each time step that based on the average
battery temperature of the preceding time step the electrochemical model determines the average

6
heat generation rate and sends it to the three dimensional heat and temperature distribution
model.

The three dimensional heat and temperature distribution model receives the heat
generation rate and is then simulates the heat and temperature distribution through the battery as
a result of the proposed BTMS. Due to the lack of experimental data on the boiling of propane
on the surface of a cylindrical structure with dimensions close to those of the considered battery,
the developed model prediction and simulation of the boiling phenomena is validated. In this
validation, results are used from the experimental investigation by Bolukbasi and Ciloglu [31] of
water boiling on a cylindrical surface, having dimensions close to the considered battery
dimensions. The experimental investigation of Bolukbasi and Ciloglu [31] considered a large
range of cylindrical surfaces, at superheated temperatures ranging from 0oC to 500oC. The
developed model was able to predict the boiling behavior with an average error not exceeding
15%. Note that most boiling models concentrate on the interference between the surrounding
liquid and the forming bubbles [32–34]. However, models that depend on the interference
between the liquid, forming bubbles and the hot surface finish are complicated, and has to
consider nucleation sites shape, number and distribution. However, the thermodynamic and heat
transfer model developed in this paper is more concerned with the overall surface structure,
making the model more applicable to various cases as well as less computationally intensive.
Details on the boiling model can be found in the present authors’ earlier work [25]. The
boundary conditions selected for the three dimensional heat and temperature distribution model
are shown in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b). The selected mesh quality is shown in the plot of the mesh
element size in Fig. 2(c).

2.1.1 Three dimensional heat and temperature distribution model

The simulated domain for the three dimensional heat and temperature distribution model is
presented in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). The simulated domain of the proposed thermal battery
management system relevant to the battery pack and the proposed thermal management system is
shown in Figs. 2(b) and 2(c) for the two design parameters considered. The domain in Fig. 2(b)
is two quarters of two batteries with two halves of two boiling tubes and the connecting
aluminum block. The governing equations for the heat and temperature distribution model can be
presented in the terms of the energy rate balance equation of the battery, and the conservation of
mass, momentum and energy for the coolant. The conservation of the energy rate of the battery
can be presented as follows:

( ) ( ) ̇ (1)

Here, the material properties of the battery are , which denotes the battery
density, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity respectively. denotes the battery
temperature distribution throughout the battery, where the generated heat from the battery is

7
denoted as ̇ . The balance equations of mass, momentum and energy of the coolant are be
written as follows:

( ⃗) (2)

( ⃗) ( ⃗ ⃗) (3)

( ) ( ⃗ ) ( ) (4)

Here, the subscript p refers to the coolant propane, P denotes pressure, g denotes the acceleration
due to gravity, and ⃗ denotes the velocity vectors of the coolant.

The selected boundary conditions are shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), where the
surrounding four edges of the simulated domain are based on symmetry boundary conditions for
both the heat transfer and fluid flow modules. The effect of gravity is considered as well to
simulate the buoyancy effect in the boiling tubes. The volumetric heat generation rate obtained
from the one dimensional electrochemical model is applied to the active portion of the battery
volume highlighted in a different color in Fig. 3(b). The electrical connectors insulate the upper
surface of the battery and is treated as an insulated boundary condition, since the heat rate from
that connection is negligible compared to the heat rate extracted by the proposed BTMS. The
tube is continuously supplied with liquid propane from the bottom to maintain the high heat
transfer rate of boiling. Note that the continuous supply of the liquid propane is set to the rate of
evaporation and the amount of vapor leaving the tube. This is the boundary condition used to
decide the mass flow rate of the liquid propane supply.

The thermal conductivity of the battery varies through the active portion of the battery in
each direction due to its layer based structure. The directional overall thermal conductivities of
the battery can be expressed as follows:

(1)
( )

( )
(2)

Here, k denotes the thermal conductivity and the subscripts r and z denotes the radial and axial
directions of the battery. The thickness and thermal conductivity of layer i are denoted by Li and
ki respectively. The battery specific heat capacity and density also vary by layer due to the layer

8
based structure. The specific heat capacity (cp,i) and density ( ) of layer i can be written as
follows:

( )
(3)

( )
(4)

2.1.2 One dimensional electrochemical model equations

In order to assess the thermal performance of the batteries in the pack, and as per the equations
presented in the above section, the heat generation rate due to electrochemical reactions
occurring inside the battery must be determined throughout the cooling process. A one
dimensional electrochemical model is developed in COMSOL Multiphysics software, based on
the work of Doyle et al. [30,35,36]. Note that, as presented in previous work, a one dimensional
electrochemical model can accurately predict the electrochemical behavior of the battery [25].
Fig. 1(b) shows the geometry and the internal structure of the cylindrical lithium ion battery
considered in this study. The battery is made of long sheets wrapped around a nylon insulator as
shown in Fig. 1(b). Three main electrochemical reaction sheets comprise the battery and
additional current collectors as shown in Fig. 3. The specifications and the properties of the
battery layers are listed in Table 1. Further details on the properties of the battery materials are
given by Doyle et al. [30,35,36], however the general governing equations of the three main
layers of the battery cell, which are two porous electrodes sandwiching a non-aqueous liquid
electrolyte are presented next. The lithium ion batteries generate electrical energy or store it
through the movement of lithium ions from one electrode to the other, where the variation of the
concentration of the lithium in the solution phase of the electrode can be presented as follows:

( ) ( ) (5)

Here, denotes the lithium concertation, the lithium diffusion coefficient is denoted by , t
denotes time, denotes the pore wall flux of lithium ions at a superficial current density , and
constant denotes the specific interfacial area.

The lithium concentration in the solid portion of the electrode can be presented as
follows:

[ ] (6)

Here, denotes the lithium concertation in the solid phase of the electrode, the lithium
diffusion coefficient is denoted by in the solid phase of the electrode, and r presents the
radial direction through the solid phase of the electrode.

9
 This section provides a summary of the one dimensional electrochemical model,
including selected boundary conditions as well as material and model specifications required to
build the model in COMSOL. Fig. 4 shows the one dimensional model geometry, which consists
of three line segments and two points at each end. Each segment represents a layer from the
battery cell, with two porous electrodes sandwiching a non-aqueous liquid electrolyte that makes
up the third layer (i.e., the separator). The two electrodes are a pseudo-homogeneous mixture of
additive conductive filler, polymer matrix, non-aqueous liquid electrolyte and active insertion
material [30]. The separator is a plasticized electrolyte consisting of five species: two liquids, a
polymer, a cation and an anion.

The first segment from the right in Fig. 4 represents the positive electrode of the battery
cell, which is made of LiMn2O4. The initial boundary conditions for the two electrodes and the
separator are presented in Table 1, which includes the electrolyte potential, the electrolyte salt
concentration and the electrical potential. In middle is the separator layer, which is made of
LiPF6. The third segment of the one dimensional model is the negative porous graphite electrode.
Note that Fig. 4 provides the dimensions of each segment. The governing equations of the
electrochemical model are provided in the authors earlier work [25].

3. Results and Discussion

The design parameters considered in the proposed system are the size of the boiling propane
tubes, which receive a continuous supply of liquid propane. The operating conditions considered
are the charging and discharge rate of the simulation period of 600 seconds, starting with 300
seconds of charging and followed by the discharging half of the simulation period. The thermal
performance of the proposed system is assessed through the battery maximum temperature and
temperature distribution throughout the battery.

3.1 Maximum battery temperature

The variation of the battery maximum temperature through the 600 seconds of intense charging
and discharging at rates of 4C and 6C for the two considered designs of the BTMS is shown in
Fig. 5(a). The proposed BTMS is able to maintain the maximum battery temperature at less than
30oC for the entire 600 seconds when the charging and discharging rate is 4C. However, when
the charging and discharging rate is increased to 6C, the maximum battery temperature peaks at
two points within the 600 seconds to a temperature of 31.6oC as shown in Fig. 5(a). For both
considered charging and discharging rates the larger diameter boiling tube achieves a lower
maximum temperature for most of the 600 seconds of charging and discharging. However, the
difference between the two designs is more apparent for higher charging and discharging rates,
which means that the larger diameter tube is required or is favorable if the batteries undergo
charging and discharging rates of 6C and higher. In all of the considered cases, a sudden and fast
jump from the initial battery temperature to the saturation temperature of the liquid propane in
the tubes is observed. This phenomenon is attributable to the fact that the supply of the liquid

10
propane starts after the first 10 seconds of the cycle, and the cooling in these 10 seconds is
mostly coming from the sensible cooling as the liquid propane is heated to the saturation
temperature.

To better understand the behavior of the maximum battery temperature and why the
maximum temperature of the battery varies as shown in Fig. 5(a), the heat rate categorization of
the BTMS is shown in Fig. 6. The variations are shown of the heat rates generated by the battery,
transferred from the surface of the battery, and removed by the boiling tubes. In Fig. 6, a
negative heat rate means the heat is transferred in the opposite direction to the normal to the
specified surfaces. The normal for the battery surface is defined as coming out of the battery and
the normal to the tube surface is defined as to the inside of the battery tube. Fig. 6(a) shows the
heat rate breakdown for the case where the diameter of the boiling tube is 4 mm and the charging
and discharging rate is 6C. It is seen that at the start of the cycle and for the first 50 seconds, the
battery is generating heat but the heat rate at the surface of the tubes and the battery is negative,
which means the battery is also gaining heat from the coolant and the aluminum block. This
behavior is caused by the battery temperature being less than the saturation temperature, as
shown in Fig. 5(a) in these 50 seconds. After the first 50 seconds, the temperature of the battery
exceeds the coolant saturation temperature, and at that moment the battery starts losing heat to
the aluminum block as the heat rate from the battery surface becomes positive, as shown in Fig.
6(a). It is observed that there is a lag between the heat rate from the surface of the battery and the
surface of the boiling tube, which is due to the thermal conductivity and the heat capacity of the
aluminum block. Fig. 6(a) shows that the proposed cooling system achieves greater temperature
uniformity through the battery compared to the direct contact cooling system. The time lag
between the battery losing heat and the boiling tube gaining heat leads to higher overall cooling
rate, as seen when the battery heat generation rate drops at the 300 seconds mark. Fig. 6(b)
shows the variation of the heat rates of the battery and the battery pack for the case when the
charging and discharging rate is 4C. Due to the lower heat generation rate at 4C compared to 6C
for the same battery, the system starts cooling the battery after 110 seconds from the start of the
600 seconds charging and discharging cycle.

Finally, it is seen in Fig. 5(a) that the BTMS is able to maintain the maximum
temperature of the battery at less than 32oC. The maximum temperature of the battery reaches
that point twice. As noted earlier, the temperature uniformity of the battery is also an important
thermal measure of the performance of the cooling system, and this is measured through the
maximum temperature difference across the battery and the temperature contours across the
battery surface. These characteristics are discussed in the next section.

3.2 Battery temperature distribution

In the previous section, the variation of the battery maximum temperature was examined and it
was found that the maximum battery temperature through a 600 seconds charging and

11
discharging period reached 31.6oC when the rate was 6C. In addition to the maximum
temperature, the temperature distribution through the battery pack and each battery is of
importance to avoid damage to them. The temperature distribution through the battery is
quantified through the average temperature and maximum temperature difference across the
battery. Temperature contour plots of the battery surface are also useful for assessing the
temperature distribution across the battery.

Fig. 5(b) shows the variation of the maximum temperature difference across a single
battery within the battery pack for the two considered design parameters (4 mm and 2 mm
boiling tube diameters), as well as the two considered operating conditions (4C and 6C charging
and discharging rates for 600 seconds). It is seen that the smaller tube diameter achieves higher
temperature uniformity by having a lower temperature difference across the battery surface. For
a charging and discharging rate of 6C, the maximum temperature difference across the battery is
3.5oC compared to 4.1oC when boiling tube diameter is twice the size. As for the maximum
temperature, the effect of boiling tube size on the maximum temperature difference across the
battery increases with the charging and discharging rate. The temperature distribution across the
battery surface is presented graphically in Fig. 7, which shows temperature contours of the
battery surfaces and the internal structure of the battery. Figs. 7(a) and (b) show battery
temperature contours for the BTMS with a 2 mm diameter boiling tube and at a rate of 6C, for
the 300 seconds and 600 seconds time steps of the simulation. As seen in Fig. 5(b) for the cycle
rate of 6C, the cycle reaches the maximum battery temperature and maximum temperature
difference twice across the cycle, which is also reflected in the temperature distribution as
observed in Figs. 7(a) and (b). For a larger tube diameter of 4 mm and the same rate of 6C, the
temperature contour plots at time steps of 300 seconds and 600 seconds are shown in Figs.7 (c)
and (d). As for the smaller tube diameter, the center of the battery has the highest temperature;
however, the temperature difference across the battery radius varies from 2oC on the top to a
maximum of 4oC at the bottom of the battery. For the smaller diameter, the maximum
temperature difference also occurs at the battery bottom, and it is seen to be 3.5oC in Figs. 7(a)
and (b). The battery maximum temperature difference across the radius is the maximum due to
the inlet of the liquid coolant to the boiling tube being at the bottom. However, the temperature
difference across the battery height, for a boiling tube diameter of 2 mm and a rate of 6C, varies
from 0oC at the battery center to 1oC on the outer surface height of the battery. For a larger
boiling tube diameter and a rate of 6C, the temperature difference across the battery height varies
from 1oC at the battery center to 2oC on the outer surface height of the battery.

Figs. 8(a) and (b) show temperature contours for time steps of 300 and 600 seconds
respectively, for the design with a boiling tube diameter of 2 mm at a rate of 4C. Unlike the
temperature distribution of the battery at the rate of 6C, the maximum temperature difference
across the battery varies greatly from the 300 seconds time frame to the 600 seconds time frame
as shown in Figs. 8(a) and (b). The maximum temperature difference in the radial direction (1oC)
again occurs at the top since through half the simulation period most of the cooling comes from

12
the bottom, where the incoming liquid boils. This temperature difference drops to 0oC at the
bottom at the 300 s time (Fig. 8(a)). However, at the end of the 600 seconds period, the
maximum temperature across the battery in the radial direction varies from 2oC at the bottom to
1oC at the top, as seen in Fig. 8(b). Increasing the tube diameter leads to similar behavior, as
shown in Figs. 8(c) and (d).

4. Conclusions

A novel battery thermal management system that takes advantage of the high heat transfer rate of
phase change from liquid fuel to vapor for hybrid electric vehicles is proposed and examined.
Specifically, a new design is analyzed that integrates the fuel boiling inside tubes embedded in
an aluminum block that house the batteries. The proposed system uses tubes distributed
throughout the battery pack which contain stationary boiling fuel. The aluminum conducts the
heat away from the batteries to the phase change coolant in the tubes. The integration reduces the
temperature distribution through the battery pack, reduces the amount of vehicle fuel in the
battery pack, eliminates direct contact between the batteries and the coolant and reduces the
temperature difference across each battery. The proposed system is compared with other systems
in the literature, including those based on boiling at a rate of 6C. It is found that the proposed
system achieves a 1oC higher maximum battery temperature, and a similar pattern to the direct
contact pool and propane based systems. However, the proposed system achieves a maximum
temperature difference of 3.5oC compared to 10oC in the pool and propane based systems. In
addition, since the pool based system achieves similar or better performance than most of the
proposed air and liquid cooling systems, the proposed system can be inferred to outperform them
as well.

Further research is needed to enhance understanding of the proposed system. In

particular, consideration of a wider range of operating and design parameters (e.g., number of
tubes and more sizes) would be worthwhile to better understand the system’s performance. In
addition, it would be useful to assess the effect of varying the coolant type, pressure and the
supply system on performance.

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada and we would like to acknowledge CMC Microsystems.

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Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of (a) simulated battery pack and (b) aluminum block that houses the
batteries and the boiling propane tubes.

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 Fig. 2. (a) Dimensions and structure of the considered cylindrical lithium ion battery, (b) first
configuration with a boiling tube diameter of 4 mm and (c) second configuration with a boiling
tube diameter of 2 mm.

17
Fig. 3. (a) First set of boundary conditions for the three dimensional heat transfer and fluid flow
model and (b) second set of boundary conditions for the three dimensional heat transfer and fluid
flow model, and (c) variation of the mesh elements size throughout the simulated domain.

Fig. 4 Domain and set boundary conditions for the one dimensional electrochemical model.

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Fig. 5. Variation with discharging and charging time of (a) battery maximum temperature and (b)
maximum temperature difference within the battery.

Fig. 6. Variation of heat rate generated by the battery, heat removal rate from the surface of the
battery, and heat removal rate by the boiling tubes for (a) rate of 6C and a boiling tube diameter
of 4 mm, and (b) rate of 4C and a boiling tube diameter of 2 mm.

19
 Fig. 7. Temperature contours of battery surfaces and internal structure of the battery at a rate of
6C for (a) tube diameter of 2 mm, at the time step 300 seconds, (b) tube diameter of 2 mm, at the
time step 600 seconds, (c) tube diameter of 4 mm, at the time step 300 seconds, and (d) tube
diameter of 4 mm, at the time step 600 seconds

Fig. 8. Temperature contours of battery surfaces and the internal structure of the battery at a rate
of 4C for (a) tube diameter of 2 mm, at the time step 300 seconds, (b) tube diameter of 2 mm, at
the time step 600 seconds, (c) tube diameter of 4 mm, at the time step 300 s, and (d) tube
diameter of 4 mm, at the time step 600 seconds

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Table 1: Properties, specifications and dimensions of lithium ion battery model used in
simulations

Specification LixC6 (negative LiyMn2O4 Unit

electrode) (positive
electrode)
Diffusion coefficient in electrode solid cm2 s-1
particles
Insertion process exchange current 0.11 0.08 mA cm-2
density of insertion process
Intercalation material maximum salt 26.39 22.86 mol dm-3
concentration
Radius of particle 12.5 8 µm
Volume fraction of solid phase 0.384 0.43
Volume fraction of electrolyte phase 0.444 0.4
Coefficient of reaction rate m s-1
Initial species concentration 2205 20925 mol m-3
Maximum species concentration 26390 mol m-3
Electrical conductivity of porous 1.0 0.038 S cm-1
electrode
Electrode material density 1900 4140 kg m-3
Solid phase volume fraction 0.384 0.43
Electrolyte phase volume fraction 0.444 0.4
(0.37 for the separator)
Bruggeman coefficient for tortuosity 2.98
(3.15 for the separator)
Reaction rate coefficient m s-1
Data from [30,35,36].

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