Optimization of Cooling System for an Electric Vehicle Battery Pack
Evelyn (a*), Abd. Rashid bin Abd. Aziz (a), Bentang Arief Budiman (b), Poetro Lebdo Sambegoro (b)

a) Centre for Automotive Research & Electric Mobility (CAREM), Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
*eve_lyn_lim[at]yahoo.com
b) Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

Abstract

As one of the main components of electric vehicle, it is crucial to ensure the battery pack is designed with the optimum configuration. One of the highest risk yet commonly found issue in battery is overheating. Not only will its own life span be compromised, overheating might also be a potential fire hazard to the whole vehicle. Therefore, this research aims to provide a reliable solution to maintain the battery pack temperature within the acceptable range. The method proposed is by introducing forced convection through installation of multiple fans. CFD simulation is conducted using ANSYS fluent to evaluate the ideal placement of the fans and the required flow rate. The model used is a battery pack consisted of 240 cells currently under development for usage in an electric bus. Hence, design of the cooling mechanism is made with all the components of the battery pack under consideration. Through this research, a suitable fan model is selected based on the preferred dimensions and specification.

Keywords: electric vehicle; battery pack; CFD; temperature distribution

Topic: Mechanical Engineering