Critical Thickness of the Phase Change Material (RT-42) for Temperature Management of 18,650 Li-Ion Cell Undergoing Rapid Discharging

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have great potential to power EVs and hybrid EVs (HEVs). These batteries are lightweight, high-specific energy, low-self-discharge, long-lasting, and have no memory effect. These batteries create a lot of heat during operation, affecting their performance and increasing the danger of capacity deterioration, thermal runaway, and fire. The current research examines the critical thickness of PCM required to control the cell temperature undergoing rapid discharging. A commercial 18,650 Li-ion of 2.6 Ah capacity has been used for experiments and numerical modelling. It is found that the PCM is able to significantly control the cell temperature. A PCM thickness of 2.5 mm keeps the cell temperature in the optimum temperature range.