Battery thermal management for high rate applications

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New and proposed electric vehicles (EV) will fast charge at very high rates while briefly stopped on long distance travels. This places significant stress on the existing electrical distribution grid. Instead of adding new "poles and wires", charging stations can be "battery-backed" by adding stationary batteries. eCamion is a Canadian developer and manufacturer of battery energy storage systems. They have deployed these throughout Ontario and are presently contracted to deliver new higher power systems. eCamion's market is evolving to faster charging rates and their present battery cooling system is no longer sufficient to maintain uniform cool temperature during high rate operation. There is a need for new thermal management techniques to keep such stationary batteries cool while operating at very high rates (4C+). Whereas the EV might take hours to discharge, the battery backed storage at the charge station must discharge in minutes, and potentially to multiple EVs simultaneously. In this research project, new and novel battery thermal conditioning systems will be explored to determine their performance enhancement while remaining within the original footprint of the charge station. The project has three phases. First, the existing battery thermal conditioning system will have its performance evaluated using high resolution electrical and thermal measurement techniques to create a well-defined and comprehensive picture of thermal response. Second, new forced-air and/or phase-change-material systems will be designed to address non-uniformity (e.g. hot-spots) and insure overall cooling rate is met. Finally, the new design will be trialed in a system to demonstrate its performance in the application. It is expected that this NSERC Engage Project will lead to a long-term academic-industrial relationship given the massively expanding energy storage market and product evolution. Two new HQP will be trained and this project supports the Canadian Government's initiatives for electric vehicles and fast charging.