Heat transfer modelling of a supercapacitor stack

R. Zhao, D. D. Li, A. Lee*, N. M. Kwok, G. H. Yeoh

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Supercapacitors are novel energy storage devices widely used in urban transport and telecommunication systems. The high charge and discharge currents in such applications lead to significant heat generation, which has a negative impact on the life and reliability of supercapacitors. Therefore, thermal management becomes one of the key considerations in supercapacitor stack design process. In this paper, a transverse air flow cooling strategy for supercapacitors is proposed and examined numerically using a two-dimensional transient computational model. Mesh grids with inflation layers were found to be able to better capture the flow structures close to the wall boundary layers, and high resolution discretisation scheme showed a higher order of accuracy comparing to 1st order upwind discretisation scheme. In terms of flow structure, it was observed that the bulk of flow propagates towards the outlet in a very narrow region. Vortices were observed in between individual supercapacitors, which increased the cooling performance. Parametric studies by varying the inlet velocity and rest time periods were conducted and the resulting heat transfer behaviours were analysed. It was observed that increases in inlet velocity and rest time improved the cooling efficiency by showing a lower maximum temperature within the system.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 16th International Heat Transfer Conference, IHTC-16
Subtitle of host publicationAugust 10-15, 2018, Beijing, China
Place of PublicationDanbury, Connecticut
PublisherBegell House
Pages3911-3918
Number of pages8
Volume2018-August
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
EventInternational Heat Transfer Conference (16th : 2018) - Beijing, China
Duration: 10 Aug 201815 Aug 2018
Conference number: 16th

Publication series

NameInternational Heat Transfer Conference
PublisherBegell House
ISSN (Electronic)2377-424X

Conference

ConferenceInternational Heat Transfer Conference (16th : 2018)
Abbreviated titleIHTC-16
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period10/08/1815/08/18

Keywords

  • Computational methods
  • Turbulence transport
  • Heat transfer enhancement
  • Supercapacitor stack

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