Experimental Investigation of PHP with Hybrid Nanofluid for EV Battery Thermal Management

Lithium-ion batteries (especially, 18,650 cells) are extensively used in electric vehicles because of their superior performance and low cost. The dissipation of excessive heat generated in these batteries during charging and discharging cycles is a challenge when designing a battery thermal management system (BTMS). The pulsating heat pipe (PHP) can be used for cooling these batteries. In this work, an experimental investigation of a three-dimensional pulsating heat pipe (PHP) specially designed for cooling of 18,650 lithium-ion battery module is conducted. This work aims to study the effect of working fluid (CuO + Fe3O4–water nanofluid and water) and PHP inclination (90°, 45°, and 0°) on the thermal performance of PHP. It is observed that at all the PHP inclinations, hybrid nanofluids have better thermal performance compared to that of water, and the thermal resistance of PHP is decreased by an average of 7.8% with nanofluids. It is also observed that the use of hybrid nanofluid considerably reduced the start-up temperature of the PHP. The lowest start-up temperature observed with hybrid nanofluid is 49 °C at a 45° inclined position.