Battery Pack Cooling Research

8.4.D Ventilation

Battery enclosures may be equipped with a forced ventilation system. Such ventilation systems must pull exhaust to the exterior of the solar car and must be directly connected to the exterior of the vehicle away from any airstream that may reach the driver. The ventilation system shall be powered by the battery system. Provisions should be made to power this fan from the Supplemental battery in the event of a Battery Protection Fault.

Pack cooling methods

Keep pack under 45°C as that will shut down solar array and regenerative breaking
Air cooling
- More simple and cheaper than liquid cooling
- Temp distribution would not be uniform
  - Not much air through the mid (based on MSXII)
- Could use fans or holes in the aero body
Liquid Cooling
- More efficiently distributes heat
- No heat distribution issues
- Could use a layered system to save space
  - Something like that as opposed to all aligned with each other
- Tesla uses metallic tubes with Glycol as coolant
Phase change materials (?) (https://www.dober.com/electric-vehicle-cooling-systems#electric_vehicle_cooling_systems)
- Absorbs heat energy by changing from solid to liquid
  - Limited use due to change in volume
- Not practical for use in vehicles
Cooling Fins
- Increase surface area to increase rate of heat transfer
- Uses convection and conduction to carry heat away from the pack

Recommendation

Liquid cooling would be the most efficient at cooling, but difficult to implement