An energy saving strategy on the composite phase change material and spiral liquid cooling channel for battery thermal management

In order to ensure the safety and stability of the cooling system during the operation of the battery thermal management system combined with composite phase change material cooling and liquid cooling, it is usually necessary to continuously pump cooling water. It inevitably caused that the latent heat of composite phase change material could not be fully released and extra pump power was consumed. In the study, five different energy saving strategies were proposed and the energy efficiency ratio was defined to evaluate their cooling effects and energy saving. The effect of energy saving strategies on energy consumption of liquid cooling and latent heat utilization of composite phase change material was analyzed. The results show that III and V can meet their cooling requirements and have a high energy efficiency ratio. The screw pitch and cooling water flow rate in these two modes were investigated. The results show that the increase in screw pitch reduces the heat transfer efficiency, resulting in an increase in Tmax and ΔTmax, and ΔTmax exceeding the maximum range. Diminishing the cooling water flow will precipitate a rise in battery temperature, enabling the CPCM to operate at its maximum capacity and consequently decreasing ΔTmax. As a cooling water flow of 20 ml/min in III and V all can satisfy the cooling requirements. Additionally, the III was also competent when the cooling water temperature was raised from 25 °C to 35 °C.