Engineered Fluids and Dovetail Electric Aviation have announced a collaboration aimed at advancing battery safety and performance in electric aircraft. The partnership focuses on integrating Engineered Fluids’ single-phase immersion cooling technology, specifically the AmpCool AC-110 dielectric fluid, into Dovetail’s modular DovePack battery system, which is engineered for aviation certification.

Thermal management is a significant challenge in scaling electric propulsion for aircraft. Conventional air or cold-plate cooling systems, while established in ground vehicles, add weight and complexity that are particularly problematic in aviation, where mass directly affects range and payload. These traditional methods can also struggle to prevent thermal runaway propagation between cells, a critical safety concern in flight.

The solution under development immerses each lithium-ion cell in AmpCool, a non-conductive, non-flammable, and chemically stable fluid. Gary Testa, President and CEO of Engineered Fluids, explains that this approach enables much better heat dissipation, prevents thermal runaway propagation, and extends battery performance in the demanding environment of flight. AmpCool offers up to 1,600 times the thermal conductivity of air, allowing efficient heat removal directly from each cell surface rather than relying on indirect conduction through module housings or cooling plates.

Direct-contact cooling improves thermal uniformity and peak load handling, and also acts as a fire suppressant. In the event of a cell failure, the fluid isolates and contains the incident, preventing it from spreading to adjacent cells. This removes the need for heavy pressure relief systems or additional fire suppression equipment, further reducing system mass and complexity.

For Dovetail, integrating immersion cooling into the DovePack battery platform is a key step toward retrofitting regional aircraft with zero-emission propulsion. David Doral, CEO of Dovetail Electric Aviation, states that integrating AmpCool into DovePack allows the company to build safer, lighter, and more compact batteries, which is essential for zero-emission flight. Dovetail’s goal is to make regional air travel fully electric, clean, and quiet, without compromising safety.

Testing of the new battery architecture is ongoing in Spain and Australia. Results so far show the system can prevent the spread of thermal events and maintain stability under high-stress conditions. The simplified thermal management system, without heavy heat sinks, fans, or pumps, results in lighter and more reliable battery packs, which directly benefits aircraft range and payload.

With increasing pressure on the aviation sector to reduce carbon emissions, this collaboration is timely. By addressing battery safety and performance at the cell level, Engineered Fluids and Dovetail are positioning immersion cooling as a practical, certifiable solution for electric aircraft. If successful, this technology could set new standards for battery reliability and operational safety, helping to accelerate the adoption of electric propulsion in aviation.

Click here to read the latest issue of E-Mobility Engineering.