Li-ion batteries are one of the most widely used energy storage devices owing to their relatively high energy density and power, yet they confront heating issues that lead to electrolyte fire and thermal runaway, especially in automotive applications. A well-designed thermal management system is necessary to mitigate the thermal issues occurring in high charge/discharge conditions. Keeping this in view, an ingeniously designed rectangular mini-chann. Li-ion batteries are one of the most widely used energy storage devices owing to their relatively high energy density and power, yet they confront heating issues that lead to electrolyte fire and thermal runaway, especially in automotive applications. A well-designed thermal management system is necessary to mitigate the thermal issues occurring in high charge/discharge conditions. Keeping this in view, an ingeniously designed rectangular mini-channel cold plate is proposed to sandwich in between two consecutive 7Ah prismatic lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries with a provision of coolant flow through the mini-channels across the cold plate to form a battery module. A numerical model for the varying channel number, channel width, coolant flow rate, coolant and ambient temperature, etc. to uphold the battery module temperature within the range of 25 °C-40 °C is developed in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4. A detailed thermodynamic analysis suggests that a cold plate comprising 5 mini channels of width 4 mm with parallel flow design, and water entry near to the charging port with a flow rate of 0.003 kg.s − 1 and temperature of 25 °C as the ideal trade-off between heat transfer and pressure drop for better thermal management across the battery module. A uniform heat propagation in longitudinal direction justifies the optimum design of the cold plate.••••Liquid thermal management of prismatic LiFePO4 batteries with minichannels proposed.••Numerical model of thermodynamic changes of the battery module developed in COMSOL.••Thermal and statistical analyses used to optimize the ideal design of a cold plate.••A cold plate of 5 minichannels and width 4 mm with parallel flow design found ideal.••Prismatic li-ion batteryRectangular mini channelLiquid coolingThermal management∆S entropy change (W °C − 1)∆P pressure drop across the plate (Pa)A surface area (m2)cp specific heat at constant pressure (J kg−1 °C − 1)Dh hydraulic diameter (m)E With the impending environmental concern from traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) based cars, the automobile industry is concentrating on the boulevard of electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) on a roll in the present decade. Batteries are one of the significant sources of the energy storage unit for EVs or HEVs. Presently, a series of batteries like lead-acid, NiMH, NiCad and Li-ion are incorporated in EVs and HEVs to empower the powertrains. Amongst these, the demand for Li-ion batteries is overgrowing because of its lower self-discharging rate, long life, eco-friendly nature, higher power, and energy density. The operating temperature of the Li-ion battery module and the variation of temperature between the individual batteries significantly impact the functioning of the battery in terms of its life cycle, usable limit, and safety. On the other hand, a considerable quantity of heat is produced from the battery module throughout the working cycle due to exothermic reactions, and internal resistance. Till date, many mathematical models have been developed by the researchers to estimate the heat generation rate and the C-rate as the ratio of the discharge and the theoretic current at a rated nominal capacity of the battery, namely the equivalent circuit model, single-particle model, 1D, 2D and 3D electrothermal model [7,8]. Therefore, a profound understanding of the electrochemical and thermal characteristics of a large capacity battery is required.
