Experimental and Numerical Study on the Thermal Behavior of a Large Lithium-Ion Prismatic Cell With Natural Air Convection

Abstract

This article attempts to study the thermal characteristic and behavior of a large commercial prismatic lithium-ion battery cell (50 Ah) for the application of rechargeable energy storage in electric vehicles. The anode of the cell is based on graphite, whereas nickel, cobalt, and manganese make up the cathode of the cell. With the experiments, two different load protocols were applied to the cell in three initial ambient temperature conditions. With the help of thermal sensors and a thermal camera, the surface temperature of the cell is recorded. Moreover, temperature growth and distribution were compared with the variable loads and initial temperature conditions. Furthermore, a three-dimensional thermal model is built and the results are validated with the experiments. A maximum of around 2 °C temperature fluctuation is recorded. Finally, it was concluded that temperature distribution is affected by the load profile in different ambient conditions.