Introducing new designs of minichannel cold plates for the cooling of Lithium-ion batteries

Seven different new designs of minichannel cold plates (MCPs) are proposed in this work for the cooling of Li-ion battery modules discharging at high C-rates. As a proof of concept, detailed numerical investigations are carried out on the seven designs, considering a prismatic battery module consisting of five 45 Ah Li-ion batteries discharging at 3C rates. The aim is to figure out the role of profile of channels on the cooling performance of the MCPs. The thermal and hydraulic performances of each of the designs are studied systematically in detail and compared with that of an MCP having straight rectangular channels. All the designs proposed results in a better performance than the basic straight rectangular channels and are capable of cooling the batteries to below 40 degrees C under high discharging conditions. Among the designs, MCPs with zig-zag and circular slot channels exhibit an exceptional cooling performance.