Ultra-High Internal Battery Heat Transfer

Current battery systems reject the generated waste heat via conduction to the external surface of the battery. This approach is adequate with low charge/discharge rates in small batteries, but is insufficient in the high rate, large-format battery cells required for supporting pulsed power naval applications. High internal temperature gradients and peak temperatures reduce battery performance, capacity, and safety. Mainstream has proposed a novel battery cell design integrating an internal heat removal mechanism. The approach is lightweight, inexpensive, and reliable, providing a new thermal pathway out of the battery with a thermal conductivity 200 higher than existing options. Modeling suggests that this approach significantly improves thermal performance relative to external cooling strategies, and its potential will be demonstrated in a proof-of-concept cell in Phase I.