Numerical Investigation into 18650 Li-Ion Battery Temperature Control Applying Immersion Cooling with FC-40 Dielectric Fluid

Abstract

Nowadays, immersion cooling-based battery thermal management systems have demonstrated their effectiveness in controlling the temperature of lithium-ion batteries. While previous scientific research has primarily concentrated on traditional dielectric fluids such as mineral oil, the current research investigates the effectiveness of the dielectric fluid FC-40. A three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics model of an eight-cell 18650 battery system was constructed using ANSYS Fluent 19.2 to examine the effect of cooling fluids (air, mineral oil, and FC-40), velocity of flow (0.01 m/s to 0.15 m/s), discharge rate (1C to 5C), and inlet/outlet size (2.5 mm to 3.5 mm) on thermal efficiency as well as pressure drop. The findings indicate that employing FC-40 as the dielectric fluid significantly reduces the peak cell temperature, with an absolute decrease of 2.80 °C compared to mineral oil and 15.10 °C compared to air. Furthermore, FC-40 achieves the highest uniformity with minimal hotspot. On the other hand, as the fluid velocity increases, the maximum temperature of the battery drops, reaching a minimum of 26 °C at a velocity of 0.15 m/s. Otherwise, at lower flow velocities, the pressure drop remains minimal, thereby reducing the pumping power consumption. Additionally, increasing the inlet and outlet diameter of the fluid directly improves cooling uniformity. Consequently, the temperature dropped by up to 4.3%. Finally, the findings demonstrate that elevated discharge rates contribute to increased heat dissipation but adversely affect the efficiency of the thermal management system. This study provides critical knowledge for the enhancement of battery thermal management systems based on immersion cooling using FC-40 as a dielectric.