Optimization and thermal management of battery power supply system for agricultural drones

Addressing the issues of sudden range reduction and lifespan degradation in agricultural drone lithiumion batteries due to temperature runaway during high-temperature operations, this paper proposes an optimization method for an electric drive battery power supply system. The study initially constructs a battery thermoelectric coupling model to analyze the dynamic relationship between power demand and temperature rise during typical spraying operations. Subsequently, an intelligent thermal management system is designed, which combines active air cooling and phase change material (PCM) cooling strategies and is controlled by an innovative dynamic threshold algorithm. To further enhance system performance, the discharge current curve is optimized using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, achieving a better balance between power output and thermal generation. Experimental verification under 35°C environmental conditions shows that the battery peak temperature decreases from 58°C to 49°C, representing a % reduction in the maximum operating temperature. Field tests indicate that the system extends the durability of a single operation by 14 %, while significantly improving the service life, with a capacity retention rate of 92.3 % after 100 charge-discharge cycles, compared to 85.1 % for traditional systems. These results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively addresses the thermal challenges of drone batteries by coordinating and optimizing cooling strategies and discharge management, providing a practical, cost-effective solution for maintaining battery performance in hightemperature agricultural applications, while extending service life and operational reliability.

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