Enhanced Knowledge in Sciences and Technology Vol. 2 No.

2 (2022) 318-327
© Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Publisher’s Office

EKST
Homepage: http://publisher.uthm.edu.my/periodicals/index.php/ekst
e-ISSN : 2773-6385

Thermal Behavior Simulation of Cylindrical

Battery
Mohamad Mazlan Rozali1, Rosmila Abdul-Kahar2*,
Nurafiqah Mohd-Alhata3, Mun Hoe Teh4
1234
Photonics Devices and Sensor Research Center (PDSR)
Department of Physics and Chemistry,
Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology,
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,
UTHM Pagoh Campus, KM1 Jalan Panchor, 84600 Pagoh, MALAYSIA

*Corresponding Author Designation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30880/ekst.2022.02.02.034
Received 02 January 2022; Accepted 02 March 2022; Available online 23 November 2022

Abstract: Batteries are a collection of one or more cells whose chemical reactions
create a flow of electrons in a circuit. Lithium ion battery (LIB) is said to has high
energy density level, has a long life cycle and has zero memory effect. However, the
temperature, on the other hand, has a significant impact on LIB performance such as
potential thermal stability difficulties. For cylindrical geometry, the study determines
the thermal behavior of LIB in term of surface temperature and maximum temperature
of active battery material using different material for positive electrode and
charge/discharge current. From the study, LIB with lithium manganese oxide (LMO)
always show a good thermal behavior in term of surface temperature and maximum
temperature of active battery material. The less charge/discharge current applied, the
less temperature for surface and active battery material. The study of thermal behavior
in cylindrical battery will give a better understanding and a better design of cylindrical
battery with larger capacity can be produced. Thus, the design also can be added with
cooling method such as air cooling, liquid cooling, heat pipe and phase change
materials.

Keywords: Thermal Behaviors, Charge/Discharge Effect, Lithium Ion Battery,

Positive Electrode

1. Introduction
Batteries are a collection of one or more cells whose chemical reactions create a flow of electrons
in a circuit. All batteries are made up of three basic components: an anode (the '-' side), a cathode (the
'+' side), and some kind of electrolyte (a substance that chemically reacts with the anode and cathode).
The term "battery" was originally used to indicate a "grouping of similar objects organized together to
accomplish a purpose," such as a battery of guns. Benjamin Franklin coined the word in 1749 to describe
a series of capacitors he had connected for his electricity experiments. A battery, in general, is made up
*Corresponding author: rosmila@uthm.edu.my
2022 UTHM Publisher. All rights reserved.
publisher.uthm.edu.my/periodicals/index.php/ekst
Rozali et al., Enhanced Knowledge in Sciences and Technology Vol. 2 No. 2 (2022) p. 318-327

of five major components. Anode, cathode, current collectors on which they may be placed, electrolyte,
and separator.
A lot of studies about Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) has been done. It has high energy density level,
has a long life cycle and has zero memory effect [1]. Because of that factor, LIB often used as power
source for the electric vehicles (EV). However, the temperature, on the other hand, has a significant
impact on LIB performance such as potential thermal stability difficulties, such as capacity
deterioration, thermal runaway, and even fire explosion, induced by overheating of the battery and/or
thermal non-uniformity in the battery pack, preclude the commercial deployment of EV [2]. When the
temperature of the LIB rises too high, the electrodes decompose and side reactions occur, reducing the
battery's life [3].
Now, to keep the temperature of LIB exceed overheating, many proper strategies has been
introduced such as air cooling, liquid cooling and heat pipe. Air cooling has the simplest and cheapest
strategies [4]. Liquid cooling is particularly effective and has advantages such as compact structure and
ease of setup, owing to the high heat conductivity and heat capacity of the liquid coolant. In simple
way, all these strategies have their pros and cons in helping to reduce the temperature of LIB. In order
to get a better understanding how temperature can affected the batteries condition, this study was
proposed.
The main objective of this research is to design LIB with different material as positive electrodes
by using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5 Software. For this geometry, the study determines the thermal
behavior of LIB in term of surface temperature and maximum temperature of active battery material
using different material for positive electrode and charge/discharge current. From the result, the best
LIB from different electrode material is proposed.
2. Materials and Methods
This part discusses and explains in detail about setting up and designing the model of cylindrical
lithium ion battery with charge/discharge current and different positive electrodes. For this study, there
were two results that was observed which are the surface temperature of batteries and temperature of
active battery material which called maximum temperature. For the purpose of the LIB thermal
management, the thermal behavior of the LIB was investigated.
The design of the LIB for this study was adapted from Wang and team [1]. In this design a
cylindrical battery using finite element modelling to observe the temperature distribution for a better
understanding of thermal analysis. Then, design was set up by using COMSOL Multiphysics Software
but different electrodes and electrolyte was used. This study had some conditions that need to be
followed which are the discharging/charging current and two different positive electrodes. The idea of
this study also adapted from [1] but using different charge/discharge current and material of electrolyte.
Battery casing also was added to observe the surface temperature. The result that had been obtained
was not exactly accurate as the research because of the different type of battery and different current
that has been used.
The design began by setting up seven cylinders for battery casing, positive electrode, negative
electrode, two current collectors, separator and battery tabs as shown in Figure 1. Based on Table 1,
each cylinder had different radius while the height of the cylinders is same except for the battery casing
and battery tab. The battery also was set to 298.15 K as initial temperature.
Table 1: Parameter of LIB
Parameter Height Radius
Positive Electrode, mm 140.8 15.0
Negative Electrode, mm 140.8 18.0

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Table 1: Continued

Separator, mm 140.8 17.0

Positive Current Collector, mm 140.8 16.0
Negative Current Collector, mm 140.8 19.0
Casing, mm 141.0 20.0

Casing
Casing
Positive
Negative Electrode
Electrode

Negative Current Collector

Positive Current Collector

Figure 1: Component of the LIB from the upper view

2.1 Materials
The global parameter also need to be set to get the best result for this study. For this study, the size
of the battery was not the variable. The material and properties for the component of the battery was
shown in Table 2 and their thermo physical properties was shown in Table 3 while components of the
battery is in Figure 1.
Table 2: Parameter of LIB

Component Material
Positive Electrode LMO and LCO
Negative Electrode Graphite
Electrolyte LiPF6 in 3:7 EC:EMC
Positive Current Collector Aluminium
Negative Current Collector Copper
Casing Steel AISI 4340

Table 3: Properties of LIB materials

Electrical conductivity, Thermal Conductivity, k Diffusion coefficient,

S/m (W/mk) m2 /s
LMO 3.50 - 1.00 × 10−14
LCO 1.13 - 5.00 × 10−13
Graphite 100.00 881.00 1.45 × 10−13
Aluminum 3.77 × 107 238.00 -
Copper 5.99 × 107 400.00 -
Steel AISI 4.03 × 106 4.55 -
4340

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For prolonged cycle life test assessments, LIB current collectors need to have strong
electrochemical performance and cyclability, which was proven by electrochemical characterizations
and cycle life testing. Apart of having a good electrical conductivity, aluminum (Al) has an ability to
form a passive film [5]. This can make the electrolyte interface more stable. It also has a light weight
and low cost to produce. Current collector need to have some characteristics which are high conductivity
and high chemical and thermal stability [6]. Copper (Cu) as negative current collector will provide a
good conductivity, more stable chemical properties, better flexibility, easy to process, and less
expensive price.
2.3 Equations
For this study, heat from the active battery material assumed as heat source. Eq. 1 is the equation for
heat source. 𝑄𝑜 as the heat per unit volume, or as a heat rate. Heat generation occurs during the
discharge cycle, which is driven by current (I) passing through the cell. The initial temperature of the
LIB will be inserted in initial value. Eq. 2 is heat generation of LIB during charge/discharge [3]. 𝑄𝑖𝑟 is
the irreversible heat; 𝑄𝑟𝑒 represents the reversible heat; I is the current; 𝑈𝑐𝑎 and 𝑈𝑎𝑛 are the open circuit
potential (OCP) of cathode and anode electrode, respectively; U is the terminal voltage; T denotes the
temperature of LIB; dU/dT, the derivative of the OCP with respect to the temperature. In the right-hand
side of Eq. 2, it takes the positive sign for discharge operations and the negative sign for charge
operations. Eq. 3 shows the boundary of heat flux , where n is the boundary normal pointing out of the
domain.
𝑄𝑔𝑒𝑛 = 𝑄0 Eq.1
𝑑(𝑈𝑐𝑎 − 𝑈𝑎𝑛 ) Eq.2
𝑄𝑔𝑒𝑛 = 𝑄𝑖𝑟 + 𝑄𝑟𝑒 = ±[𝐼(𝑈𝑐𝑎 − 𝑈𝑎𝑛 − 𝑈) − 𝐼𝑇
𝑑𝑡
𝑞0 = ℎ. (𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑡 − 𝑇) Eq. 3

3. Results and Discussion

This part discusses and analyzes the thermal behavior of LIB model in term of surface temperature
and maximum temperature of active battery material in LIB in different charge/discharge current for
the LIB model. Temperature surface are used to show the temperature of the LIB after a cycle time of
600 s followed by a relaxing period after 1500 s. By using different materials for positive electrode, the
difference of the temperature for the LIB can be studied. The results of the surface temperature were
shown in Table 4 while the maximum temperature were shown in Table 5, Table 6 and Table 7 in YZ-
plane.
3.1 Results
The temperature surface resulted from the LIB based on LCO and LMO as materials of positive
electrode and 5C, 10C and 12C charge/discharge current in 1500s, where relaxing period start to happen
showed by Table 1 while the maximum temperature of active material in LIB with LCO and LMO as
positive electrodes was shown in Table 5, Table 6 and Table 7 at 0s, 1500s and 2100s.

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Table 4: Surface Temperature of LIB

LCO LMO
5C

10C

12C

Table 5: YZ-plane of LIB at 5C charge/discharge current

Time (s) LCO LMO

1500

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Table 5: Continued
2100

Table 6: YZ-plane of LIB at 10C charge/discharge current

Time (s) LCO LMO

1500

2100

Table 7: YZ-plane of LIB at 12C charge/discharge current

Time (s) LCO LMO

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Table 7: Continued
1500

2100

3.2 Discussions
The temperature need to be observed for thermal behavior of this battery has been studied. Table 4
shows the result of the surface temperature with different positives electrodes and different
charge/discharge current. From the surface temperature, the source of the heating of LIB is the active
material of the battery which is the electrodes and electrolyte. Then, the heat was transferred to the other
material of the battery which is the battery casing and the separator [3]. From the table, the temperature
of LIB with LMO as material has low surface temperature than LIB with LCO.

At 1500s, for 5C, the LIB with LCO reached until 313K while LIB with LMO only reached 309K.
For other charge/discharge current, LIB with LCO always show a big difference of temperature. The
temperature of LIB with LCO is 384K compared with LIB with LMO which is only 362K. For 12C
charge/discharge current, both LIB show a big difference in term of surface temperature than other
charge/discharge current. LIB with LCO is 480K while LIB with LMO is 430K. Among these two, the
LIB with LMO as positive electrodes shows that it has lower surface temperature based on different
charge/discharge current. Based on the Table 1 also, the heat from the active battery material also can
be observed. For 5C of charge/discharge, the temperature is 316K for LIB with LCO and 313K LIB
with LMO. For 10C, LIB with LCO reached 404K while LIB with LMO only reach 376K. For 12C,
LIB with LCO has 520K of the active battery temperature while LIB with LMO has 455K temperature
of active battery material.
Maximum temperature of the active material in LIB with LMO and always low than maximum
temperature of the active material in LIB with LCO. At time 0s, the maximum temperature for both of
the battery was 298.15K. As the LIB start to have charge/discharge process, the temperature casually
increased. This is because of the ion exchange that happen in the electrodes and electrolyte.

3.3 Tables of Maximum Temperature of Active Battery Material

The result of maximum temperature of LIB with LCO and LMO at different charge/discharge
current from 0s to 2100s was recorded and expressed in Table 8 until Table 10:

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Table 8: Max Temperature of LIB at 5C charge/discharge current

Time (s) Max Temperature (K) LCO Max Temperature (K) LMO
0 1.72× 10−8 -1.27× 10−9
300 6.16 4.46
600 10.34 7.51
900 13.61 9.90
1200 16.20 11.80
1500 18.27 13.31
2100 11.56 8.43

Table 9: Max Temperature of LIB at 10C charge/discharge current

Time (s) Max Temperature (K) LCO Max Temperature (K) LMO
0 1.72× 10−8 -1.27× 10−9
300 41.61 30.54
600 66.04 48.93
900 83.42 62.27
1200 96.52 72.34
1500 106.20 79.82
2100 66.01 49.62

Table 10: Max Temperature of LIB at 12C charge/discharge current

Time (s) Max Temperature (K) LCO Max Temperature (K) LMO
0 1.72 × 10−8 -1.27× 10−9
300 86.64 64.43
600 132.82 99.207
900 170.24 124.31
1200 200.66 144.89
1500 225.04 161.54
2100 139.47 100.20

3.4 Graph of Maximum Temperature of Active Battery Material

Graph of maximum temperature was plotted in Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4 to show a better
comparison between the maximum temperature from the active battery material in the LIB.

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Figure 2: Max Temperature of LIB at 5C charge/discharge current

Figure 3: Max Temperature of LIB at 10C charge/discharge current

Figure 4: Max Temperature of LIB at 12C charge/discharge current

Figure 2 shows the maximum temperature of LIB with LCO and LMO. From the Figure 2, the max
temperature for both of LIB start to decrease at 1500s as relaxing period start to happen. LIB with LCO
can reach until 18.27K while LIB with LMO can reach until 13.32K at 1500s in 5C charge/discharge
current. At 2100s, the temperature of the two LIB is 11.56K and 8.43K. From this comparison, LIB
with LMO always show a low max temperature.
Figure 3 shows the max temperature of LIB with LCO and LMO at 10C charge/discharge current.
From the Figure 3, the max temperature for both of LIB also start to decrease at 1500s as relaxing period
start to happen, same as Figure 2. LIB with LCO can reach until 106.20K while LIB with LMO can
reach until 79.82K at 1500s in 10C charge/discharge current. At 2100s, the temperature of the two LIB
is 66.01K and 49.62K for LCO and LMO. From this comparison, LIB with LCO always show a low
max temperature. The max temperature of the LIB at 10C has a big difference compared to LIB at 5C.
This is because of total of charge/discharging current was used.

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Figure 4 shows the maximum temperature of LIB with LCO and LMO at 10C charge/discharge
current. The maximum temperature also starts to decrease by time because of the resting period at
1500s. LIB with LCO can reach until 225.04K while LIB with LMO can reach until 161.55K at 1500s
in 12C charge/discharge current. At 2100s, the temperature of the two LIB is 139.47K and 100.20K for
LCO and LMO. From this comparison, LIB with LMO always show the lowest maximum temperature.
The maximum temperature of the LIB at 10C has a big difference compared to LIB at 5C. This is
because of bigger charge/discharging current was used. From the comparison, it shows that LIB with
LMO always have a promising max temperature at 5C, 10C and 12C charge/discharging current
compared to LIB with LCO.
4. Conclusion
The model of the LIB has been successfully constructed by using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5
Software. The surface temperature and maximum temperature of active battery material has been
analyzed for LIB with LCO and LMO as negative electrodes. The charge/discharge current used for the
study is 5C, 10C and 10C. From the study, it shows that LIB with LMO always show a good thermal
behavior in term of surface temperature and maximum temperature of active battery material. The less
charge/discharge current applied, the less temperature for surface and active battery material. In order
to decrease the surface temperature and maximum temperature in the future work, air cooling, liquid
cooling, heat pipe and phase change materials can be added in the LIB.
Acknowledgement
This study was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) through Fundamental
Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) (FRGS/1/2019/STG02/UTHM/02/1) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn
Malaysia (UTHM) through vote K173. The authors would also like to thank the Faculty of Applied
Sciences and Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia for its support.
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