UNS — Three students from Physics Program Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta designed Roulette Wheel model thermal management system for lithium-ion battery. This system designed by Marcus Saputra, Ester Tri Nugraheni, and Aldi is used to maintain the lithium-ion battery module’s temperature to stay in the allowed safety range during it is operation. The lithium-ion battery is sensitive to temperature, and its module performance is affected by storage and operating temperature. Marcus, as Team Leader, explained that uneven temperature distribution in the battery module might cause different electrochemical behavior in lithium-ion cells and unbalance electrical performance.
The lithium-ion battery module’s ideal operating temperature must be maintained between 20°C–50°C with a temperature difference between cells not exceeding 5°C in charge and the discharge cycle. According to Marcus, this condition demands a system with efficient use of space, low cost, and can manage temperature well, “And of course, efficient cooling during the high performance,” Marcus stated, Tuesday (24/11/2020).
Concerning the technical aspects, the team supervised by Dr. Agus Supriyanto, M.Si. employed a hybrid cooling technique based on PCM and liquid composites. They considered this technique promising to provide a solution for thermal management because it can reduce the cooling system’s power load, achieve good temperature uniformity, and keep the maximum battery temperature within safe limits at high operation levels. Roulette Wheel system is selected because it has a circular configuration surrounded by PCM composite. The cooling center using liquid cooling is located in the middle of the system.
“The important parameter used in the Roulette Wheel design consists of the battery configuration effect, the effect of adding metal fins on PCM composites and the effect of adding liquid coolant on the distribution of battery temperature,” Marcus stated.
Marcus also added that hypothetically, based on the literature, Roulette Wheel can maintain the maximum battery temperature below 50 ° C on 0.5C, 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C, 5C conditions. The temperature difference between battery cells can be maintained under 5°C. They hope that this system can extend uptime and keep temperatures within a safe range while operating at high performance. It is also expected to provide exemplary performance in maintaining the uniformity of temperature between battery module cells and increased efficiency in controlling battery module temperature. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa Hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
