Performance Study of the Direct Cooling Thermal Management System for Blade Batteries

The blade battery offers a longer lifespan, enhanced safety, and improved space utilization and battery pack integration. However, its heat generation distribution differs from cylindrical or square cells. To address this, we designed a shunt-controlled direct cooling plate tailored to the heat generation characteristics of blade batteries. Using numerical simulation, we evaluated the thermal management system's performance. Under 1.5 C charging and equal refrigerant mass flow rate, the shunt-controlled direct cooling plate effectively maintained the battery module's maximum temperature and temperature difference within acceptable limits. Compared to serpentine channel and liquid cooling plates, the new design lowered the battery module's maximum temperature by 1.3 K and 3.7 K, respectively, and reduced the temperature difference by 280/0 and 11°/0. We also analyzed the effects of inlet refrigerant temperature and mass flow rate. Increasing the refrigerant temperature raised the maximum battery temperature but improved temperature uniformity. Conversely, increasing the mass flow rate enhanced heat dissipation but significantly increased system pressure drop. This study provides valuable insights for developing direct cooling thermal management systems and designing new cooling plates for power batteries of new direct cooling plates.