Thermofluids in Engineering: Advanced Cooling Technologies for Electric Vehicles

This technical report presents a comprehensive thermofluids analysis of advanced cooling technologies for electric vehicle (EV) battery thermal management systems. Developed as a semester project for the module MEEN2001W – Fluid Mechanics I at University College Dublin (2025/26 Spring), this work integrates principles from both fluid mechanics and thermodynamics to evaluate, compare, and optimize emerging cooling strategies for lithium-ion battery packs. The report systematically examines three categories of advanced cooling technologies: (1) indirect liquid cooling via conventional cold plates, (2) Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) porous cold plate structures manufactured by additive manufacturing, and (3) coordinated thermal management systems that integrate battery cooling with cabin HVAC through heat pump cycles. Drawing on recent literature and established heat transfer theory, the study applies fundamental thermofluids equations—including energy conservation, Nusselt number correlations, Darcy-Weisbach pressure drop analysis, and thermal resistance networks—to quantify the performance trade-offs inherent in each approach. Key findings demonstrate that TPMS cold plate architectures achieve up to 12.4% reduction in maximum battery temperature and 8.4% improvement in temperature uniformity compared to conventional straight-channel designs, while maintaining acceptable pressure drop characteristics. Coordinated thermal management strategies deliver system-level energy efficiency improvements of 15–20% through waste heat recovery and optimized refrigerant allocation. The report also establishes direct parallels between shell-and-tube heat exchanger optimization methodologies and battery cold plate design, proposing a Performance Evaluation Criterion (PEC) for normalized cross-technology comparison. This work contributes to the growing body of research on EV thermal management by bridging established heat transfer fundamentals with cutting-edge engineering solutions, offering actionable insights for the design of next-generation battery cooling systems. Keywords: electric vehicles, battery thermal management, TPMS structures, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, cold plates, coordinated thermal management, shell-and-tube heat exchangers