Heat transfer enhancement from thermofluidic topology optimization for liquid-based heat exchanger for energy storage application

Although the topology optimization (TO) has been widely for load-bearing application, the technique has been recently extended to the thermal-fluidic problems. The thermal-fluidic TO is formulated based on the density-based model, Darcy interpolation, multi-objective weight sum method. As a result, the solution of thermal-fluidic TO often exhibits the structural flow path with a non-intuitive pattern, yet revealing significant improvement in the thermal transport. Although previous works utilized the multi-objective TO to design a cooling plate for the Battery Thermal Management Systems (BTMS), the effect of the heat loads from different charge/discharge rates on the optimized flow paths has not been fully assessed. Therefore, the present study implemented the two-step numerical framework coupling battery heat generation model with the multi-objective TO. The BTMS is particularly important for the EVs adoption in Thailand due to the tropical climate. Thailand produces the fifth-most motorcycles in the world, selling more than 2 million of them domestically each year. However, electric motorcycles made up less than 1% of those units. One of the causes is the high temperature at the fast-charging station in Thailand, which prevents the usage of electric motorcycles with it. As a result, using the household charger would take a few hours to fully charge the electric motorcycle. However, the commercially available battery temperature management equipment is made especially for four-wheel vehicles. As a result, there is no battery cooling unit designed specifically for use with electric motorcycles. To facilitate practical usage of the fast-charging station, the research team from Mechanical Engineering, KMUTT, and the QRES Group Company Limited is working to develop a battery cooling system in electric motorcycles. We will use an innovative algorithm-based generative design, building on the KMUTT patented original concept, to make sure the unit will maximize heat transfer capacity while reducing energy usage. The cooling system would undergo a 24-month test period that included both laboratory and real-world testing. We anticipate having a working prototype that can be expanded for the next industrial step. In addition, an enhanced computational tool for designing a battery cooling unit is expected to be well-established upon project completion.