Comparative Analysis of Active Liquid Cooling Strategies for High-Power Lithium-Ion Battery Modules

Thermal management plays a critical role in the performance, safety, and longevity of lithium-ion battery packs. As demand for fast-charging solutions and higher-energy-density battery packs continues to grow, advanced thermal management strategies are essential to maintain cell temperatures within safe operational limits. To address this challenge, this work investigates two prominent cooling techniques: (1) single-sided and (2) double-sided parallel cooling, to evaluate their trade-offs in thermal performance and energy density for automotive applications. A single cell model of the Samsung INR21700-50G cylindrical cell was developed using a multiscale, multidomain modeling approach in GT-ISE software. Thermal models were developed to represent two key components of the battery module: (1) thermal ribbons and (2) cylindrical cells. The thermal performance of single-side and double-side cooling strategies was evaluated at three charge rates: <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$1 \mathrm{C}, 2 \mathrm{C}$</tex>, and 3 C, focusing on temperature gradients, peak temperatures, and their broader implications for battery safety, performance, longevity, and safety. The results demonstrate that the double-sided cooling strategy consistently achieves superior thermal performance, achieving lower peak temperatures and narrower thermal gradients in all charge rates.