In view of the harsh conditions of rapid charging and discharging of electric vehicles, a hybrid lithium-ion battery thermal management system combining composite phase change material (PCM) with liquid cooling was proposed. Based on the numerical heat transfer model, a simulation experiment for the battery thermal management system was carried out. Taking the maximum temperature and temperature difference of the battery module as the objectives, the effects of PCM thickness, the liquid flow rate and the cross-sectional area of the liquid channel on the temperature of the battery module were analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). The results show that 31 groups of candidate parameter combinations can be obtained through response surface analysis, and phase change material (PCM) thickness should be minimized in order to improve space utilization in the battery module. The optimal parameter combination is a flow rate of 0.4 m/s and a PCM thickness of 5.58 mm, with the cross-sectional area of the liquid channel as 3.35 mm2.
Keywords: heat dissipation; liquid cooling; lithium-ion battery; phase change material; thermal management system.