THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF Li-ION BATTERY USING ALUMINUM HONEYCOMB-ENHANCED COMPOSITE PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL

An expanded graphite (EG)/paraffin wax (PW) composite phase change material (PCM) plate presents some advantages of low weight and preferable thermal conductivity in comparison with a metal-foam/PW plate. However, the weak mechanical strength of the EG/PW plate limits its practical use in Li-ion battery thermal management of electronic vehicles. In this paper, we developed a new kind of composite plate combined EG/PW composite with aluminum (Al) honeycomb used in Li-ion battery thermal management. In this composite plate, an Al honeycomb acts as a skeleton to further improve the thermal conductivity and mechanical strength of the composite plate. Additionally, we designed a single layer and double layers of Al honeycomb-enhanced EG/PW composite plates where PW consisted of RT35HC (melting point: 35 degrees C) and RT44HC (41-44 degrees C) for battery thermal management. The results show that double layers of PW composite plate present a better effect in battery temperature controlling compared to a single layer of PW (RT35HC or RT44HC) at an ambient temperature of about 30 or 40 degrees C. The temperature difference of battery with double layers of PW was slightly larger than that with a single layer of PW.