Advances on two-phase heat transfer for lithium-ion battery thermal management

Electric vehicles that utilize lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as a power source provides viable solution to realize the decarbonization of transportation sector. However, their future application is severely hindered by the temperature sensitivity of LIBs. Thus, a well-designed battery thermal management system (BTMS) is recommended to ensure proper temperature environment for improving LIBs' performance. Here, the aim is to provide a clear and detailed understanding on the two-phase heat transfer technologies for BTMS, especially given the urgent demands for fast-charging and harsh operating conditions. The fundamentals of BTMS, including battery working principles, adverse temperature effects, and modelling approaches are first analyzed. What's more, typical battery cooling methods are briefly discussed and categorized in terms of working mediums. However, with the ever-growing trend towards high energy density and fast charging, these methods are insufficient to effectively regulate the temperature of batteries. To address the rigorous demands, two-phase heat transfer strategies, with heat transfer rate several orders of magnitude higher than typical BTMS, have gained great interests. The up-to-date progresses of such system based on refrigerant flow boiling, immersion boiling, spray cooling, and other strategies, are comprehensively reviewed. Besides, discussions on battery thermal management studies are presented from the perspectives of heat transfer mechanism, pros and cons, and future insights. This state-of-the-art review is expected to deliver guidance and draw more attention to the development of advanced thermal management approaches in EV applications.