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Figure 15 – Diagram of optional AMP20 cell cooling concept
Air convection or liquid-cooled heat sinks or tubes can be used to draw heat away from the ends of the cells. The
design choice will be made based on project and product budget and performance requirements. The goal is to
keep the cell’s temperatures at or below 35 °C to maximize their service life. Air cooled options for some
applications employed by A123 can handle up to 1C peak and C/2 continuous RMS power and still maintain
average cell temperatures of 35 °C. In contrast, liquid cooling options employed by A123 can enable 4C peak and
2C continuous power and maintain average temperatures below 40 °C. These results are examples only and highly
dependent on the external cooling system design and parameters, such as flow, inlet temperature, interfaces, and
control; but indicate what can be expected with proper design.
*
Note
: “C” in the context of this paragraph refers to a rate of power usage. For example, 1C rate of power is a
rate that would discharge the battery in one hour. C/2 is a rate that would discharge the battery in 2 hours. 2C
rate would discharge the battery in 30 minutes.
Cooling Tube or
Heat sink