A team of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology in Oberhausen, Germany have developed a new fluid for cooling the costly batteries in electric vehicles (EV).
The fluid, called as CryoSolplus, absorbs heat more efficiently and will allow for tighter packing of batteries under the car's hood, researchers said.
According to the scientists, the CryoSolplus concoction is a mixture of water, paraffin, anti-freeze and a stabilisation agent, which can absorb three times as much heat as water, resulting in requirement of a much smaller storage tank and cutback weight and space.
The Fraunhofer scientists are now planning to perform tests on an experimental vehicle, but a system based on CryoSolplus should only cost EUR50 to EUR100 more than system which uses water.
As the new fluid absorbs heat, the solid paraffin droplets within the fluid melt and store heat in the process and they will again solidify when the solution becomes cool.
In order to ensure the solid droplets of paraffin stay evenly distributed within the fluid, a stabilising agent is required which will stop them clumping together or floating to the surface.
