Model Predictive Cooling Control of Cylindrical Battery Cells Through Tab and Surface Channels

Paper in proceeding, 2025

Tab cooling offers more uniform temperature distribution across the battery because of high thermal conductivity, while surface cooling is more effective at removing heat due to a larger cooling contact area. This work formulates the optimal integration of tab and surface cooling methods to synergise their unique strengths. This optimal integration control problem is solved within the model predictive control (MPC) framework, leading to minimised thermal gradients and average temperature rise. The proposed MPC scheme, which includes an advanced thermal model containing the cooling system's converter switching mechanism, is evaluated against conventional side-only and base-only battery cooling schemes under the urban dynamometer driving schedule. Results demonstrate significant thermal performance improvements of the proposed MPC scheme over the conventional cooling methods.