Enhanced thermal management of EV batteries using hybrid nanofluid under the influence of an external magnetic field

Abstract

The study involves computationally using different configurations of the minichannel to enhance the heat transfer capacity and reduce the battery surface temperature allowing for its safe operation and longevity. Using Fe3O4 + CuO/water nanofluid as the working fluid, ribs as a means to disrupt the boundary layer, resulting in the generation of vortices to enhance the heat transfer and magnets to further increase the eddy formation, the performed computation allows for the effective heat transfer to be measured in terms of Nusselt number (Nu), friction factor (f), Colburn j-factor (j) and thermal enhancement factor. The Nusselt number observes an increase of 151.078% in the heat transfer when compared with the plain channel which uses water as the working fluid. Other parameters like friction factor showed significant increase and Colburn j-factor showed an increase of 149.62% while the thermal enhancement factor reaches a maximum value of 1.58. All these values indicate the superiority of using the staggered upstream ribbed configuration against all the other arrangements. The integration of magnetic nanofluids and innovative ribbed patterns is poised to enhance next-generation cooling systems, ensuring efficient temperature control and energy management in electric cars.