Numerical Assessment of a Hybrid Nanofluid Concentrations Effects on Heat Transfer Enhancement for Liquid Battery Thermal Management System

Electric vehicles are characterized by high lifetime and efficiency dependence on temperature and, as such, require extra attention to thermal management efficiency and reliability. Nanofluids have emerged as a novel technology for improving the heat transfer characteristics of thermal management systems. This paper numerically investigated the utilization of composite CuO-MgO-TiO2 (60%-30%-10% weight composition) ternary hybrid nanofluid with different concentrations (0.1%, 0.25%, and 0.5%) in a liquid battery thermal management system. The enhancement potential was evaluated based on the maximum temperature and temperature difference as well as a performance factor considering thermal enhancement against the increase of fluid viscosity. The study concluded that the optimum nanofluid concentration is 0.25%, at which the maximum temperature and temperature difference improved by 0.5% and 4.42%, respectively, compared to the base fluid case, producing a performance factor of 0.54. Further increasing the nanofluid concentration (0.5%) produced worse overall performance compared to the 0.25% concentration case.