Comparative study of thermal management system for wide temperature safety of large-capacity energy storage batteries
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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Immersion heating provides the fastest battery heating rate compared to other methods.
Immersion cooling requires more power but slows down battery capacity fading.
Liquid cooling and immersion cooling delay thermal runaway propagation.
Boiling-based systems prevent thermal runaway through phase change cooling.
Longer heat transfer paths lead to larger thermal inhomogeneities in some methods.
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ABSTRACT
Even though thermal management systems have been widely developed to maintain the thermal stability and safety of lithium-ion battery, a comprehensive comparison remains insufficient for large-scale battery module, particularly across wide temperature ranges. For this purpose, a numerical framework that includes electrochemical-thermal coupled model, aging model, thermal runaway model, and hydrodynamic model is established for 46.592 kWh battery module. The aim of this study is to comprehensively assess the thermal management efficiency of different methods under low-temperature preheating, normal cooling, and thermal runaway protection scenarios. Results found that under the given configuration, battery heating rate is ordered as immersion heating > film heating > liquid heating plate, and the latter two approaches show larger thermal inhomogeneities due to battery anisotropy and longer heat transfer paths. For normal cooling condition, immersion cooling needs more power consumption to maintain the same inlet flow rate than air cooling and liquid cooling plate, but its superior cooling performance can slow down battery capacity fading after long-term cycling. Additionally, liquid cooling plate and immersion cooling allow for delaying thermal propagation after onset of thermal runaway, whereas boiling-based system can effectively prohibit thermal runaway from local overheating due to its phase change cooling effect. -
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Lin X., Rong B., Lin X., et al. (2026). Comparative study of thermal management system for wide temperature safety of large-capacity energy storage batteries. The Innovation Energy 3:100133. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-energy.2026.100133
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Lin X., Rong B., Lin X., et al. (2026). Comparative study of thermal management system for wide temperature safety of large-capacity energy storage batteries. The Innovation Energy 3:100133. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-energy.2026.100133
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Figure 1.
Illustration of the research method and technical roadmap of the present work.
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Figure 2.
Framework of multi-physics model used in this work.
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Figure 3.
(A) Electrochemical characteristics of energy storage battery under different temperatures; (B) Summary of discharge energy and energy efficiency in terms of ambient temperature.
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Figure 4.
(A) Evolution of average temperature of battery module under different preheating methods and operating conditions; (B-D) Comparison of heating rate, temperature uniformity, and power consumption obtained from three BTMSs; (E) Temperature distribution of battery module at the end of preheating period with heating power of
1000 W m−2 or inlet velocity of 3 m s−1. -
Figure 5.
Comparison of maximum temperature rise, temperature uniformity, and power consumption obtained from three BTMSs
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Figure 6.
(A) Comparison of average temperature and heat generation obtained from cycle 1 and cycle
1000 ; (B) Comparison of SEI thickness and SOH of three BTMSs during cycling process. -
Figure 7.
Comparison of battery temperature rise of three BTMSs during local overheating process.
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Figure 8.
Comprehensive comparison of various BTMSs used for low-temperature preheating, normal cooling, and thermal runaway protection.
