Investigation of battery thermal management system based on liquid cooling for the suppression of thermal runaway propagation

Abstract This study presents an investigation into a liquid cooling-based battery thermal management system (BTMS) for the suppression of thermal runaway (TR) propagation within the LiFePO 4 battery module. A numerical model was developed to simulate the thermal behavior of the battery module incorporating cooling plates with micro-channels between adjacent cells. Results demonstrate that when TR is triggered in one cell, the liquid cooling system could successfully suppress the propagation of TR to the adjacent cells, although localized temperature rise and excessive temperature differences may still compromise safety. Furthermore, increasing coolant velocity improves cooling performance and temperature uniformity, albeit with diminishing returns beyond a certain threshold.