Design and In-Flight Analysis of an Electric Aircraft’s Battery Thermal Management System

A comprehensive methodology for sizing a thermal management system tailored to the unique demands of battery-electric powered flight is presented in this paper. The design point chosen to size critical components, such as the heat acquisition and exchanger systems, was the maximum heat that the battery pack could generate during operation. For the heat acquisition system, a wavy channel liquid cooling device is deployed within each battery pack module to extract the heat generated by the batteries efficiently. This heat energy is subsequently dissipated into the environment through a heat exchanger that is parameterized with the aircraft’s fuselage space limitations in mind. This study aims to consider a realistic aircraft with a representative flight profile, offering invaluable insights into the nuanced performance dynamics of both the heat acquisition system and the heat exchanger system under dynamic flight conditions. This thorough approach guarantees safe operation during nominal flight and reduces stressors that accelerate internal battery degradation, prolonging battery life. This paper marks a pivotal stride in the ongoing advancement of thermal management systems tailored for the unique challenges posed by electric aviation.