Battery knowledge · Thermal management and heat transfer
Phase change material
A material that melts at a chosen temperature, around 30–45 °C for batteries, absorbing a large latent heat — roughly 200 J/g for paraffin wax — with little temperature rise. Packed around cells, often in a graphite matrix to lift its poor conductivity, it caps peaks during short heavy loads, but it must be cooled to reset and adds mass.
- Abbreviation
- PCM
- Also called
- paraffin wax, latent heat storage
Example
Thermal management and heat transfer: an example situation
Equal total heat in different layouts can produce different gradients. Average temperature can miss a hot spot.
Read Phase change material alongside Passive thermal management in this context. Controlling battery temperature without pumps, fans or compressors. Heat leaves by conduction to the enclosure and natural convection, sometimes helped by fins or phase change material, while insulation slows heat gain in summer and keeps a parked pack warm in winter. It suits small, low-power packs such as phones and e-bikes, not fast-charging vehicles.
Use in Lemonergy
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References & further reading
Further reading on this topic
These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.
- A General Energy Balance for Battery Systems
Dawn Bernardi, Ellen Pawlikowski, John Newman · Journal of The Electrochemical Society · 1985
Topic background · Battery energy balance and irreversible and reversible heat contributions. Reduced thermal models require explicit assumptions and current-sign conventions.
- University Physics Volume 2, §1.6: Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
OpenStax, Rice University
Topic background · Conduction, convection, radiation and thermal resistance.