Design and performance analysis of a 7S2P sodium-ion battery pack for unmanned aerial vehicle applications
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper presents a computational design and performance-modelling study of a 7S2P sodium-ion battery pack for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. The 22.4 V, 10 Ah (189 Wh) pack integrates passive cell balancing, protection circuitry and passive thermal management. The framework evaluates discharge characteristics, node-resolved thermal behaviour under flight-phase-dependent convection including a worst-case hot-climate scenario, balancing efficacy for fresh and aged cells, a passive-versus-active balancing comparison, and flight time under both constant-power and dynamic mission-profile loading. The design achieves a pack-level energy density of 105–118 Wh/kg (123 Wh/kg at cell level) and sustains 3 C discharge, holding pack voltage above the 18 V electronic-speed-controller threshold for 91% of usable capacity. Under nominal hover or forward-flight convection the predicted temperature rise is moderate, but under a worst-case hot, low-airflow, sustained-3C scenario the pack exceeds the 60 °C safety limit, showing that passive cooling alone is insufficient across the operating envelope. Passive balancing holds cell divergence below the 100 mV threshold across a simulated 1000-cycle life with capacity fade and resistance growth included, but requires 21.7 h to clear a 7% state-of-charge spread against 0.72 h for a 1 A active balancer, a limitation for UAV duty cycles with short turnarounds. Flight time is estimated at 28.6 minutes under constant 300 W loading and 33.5 minutes for a representative dynamic mission. The results support sodium-ion technology for UAV use where moderate energy density is acceptable in exchange for cost, safety and sustainability benefits, subject to experimental validation, identified as the principal limitation.
Source: Future Batteries
Authors: S.S. Lokhande, I.E. Meitei
Language: English
Subfield: Automotive Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,950
OpenAlex ID: W7221608892