Thermal Analysis of Fin Cooling Large Format Automotive Lithium-Ion Pouch Cells

Conductively cooling the surface of lithium-ion pouch cells may simplify the external cooling mechanism, as heat transfer mediums are not routed across the cell surface. In this paper, the thermal performance of cooling cells with metallic fins is analysed using a developed test rig and thermal model. Results indicate that single edge fin cooling with aluminum sheets is effective in limiting surface temperature gradients to below circa 5℃ for cells subject to realistic EV and mild PHEV duty cycles. For aggressive track racing EV cycles, double edge fin cooling is required to limit surface temperature gradients to below 12℃.