Prediction of thermal runaway and thermal management requirements in cylindrical Li‐ion cells in realistic scenarios

Abstract

Summary Li‐ion cells suffer from significant safety and performance problems due to overheating and thermal runaway. Effective thermal management can lead to increased energy conversion efficiency and energy storage density. Critical needs towards these goals include the capability to predict thermal behavior in extreme conditions and determine thermal management requirements to prevent thermal runaway. This paper presents an experimentally validated theoretical model to predict the temperature distribution in a cell in response to nonlinear heat generation rate that is known to occur during thermal runaway. This problem is solved by linearization of the nonlinear term over successive time intervals. Experimental measurements carried out on a thermal test cell in conditions similar to thermal runaway show good agreement with the theoretical model. Experimental measurements and model predictions indicate strong dependence of the fate of the cell on its reaction kinetics, thermal properties, and ambient conditions. Specifically, a sudden change in thermal runaway behavior is predicted once the ambient temperature crosses a certain threshold, consistent with past experimental observations. The impact of increasing cell thermal conductivity on improved thermal runaway performance is quantified. Results presented here provide a fundamental understanding of thermal runaway, and may lead to improved performance and safety of Li‐ion–based energy conversion and storage systems.

Criticality of incorporating explicit in‐situ measurement of temperature‐dependent heat generation for accurate design of thermal management system for Li‐ion battery pack

“…Above 55°C to 60°C (the range of variation corresponds to the variation of the corresponding discharge rate), the heat generation rate increases with temperature. The increase in heat generation rate in the higher temperature range can be attributed to the undesirable side reactions such as the decomposition of thermally unstable compounds formed on the electrode surfaces during the cell operation . An example decomposition reaction of the metastable component of solid electrolyte interface is provided in the supporting information (Equation S3 or S4).…”

Resistance exterior force property of lithium‐ion pouch batteries with different positive materials

“…13,29,33,53 Secondly, consider the influence of charge-discharge efficiency, inertial effect, SOC effect, and strain rate on the mechanical property and ISC of LIB under the mechanical abuse. 24,54 Combining with an appropriate mechanical-electrical-thermal coupled model, [55][56][57][58] the simplified electrochemical model will be utilized for industrial manufacture.…”

Advances in Prevention of Thermal Runaway in Lithium‐Ion Batteries

“…where Q(T ) is the heat transferred at a given temperature (T ), E a is the activation energy, R is the universal gas constant, and Q 0 is the pre-exponential constant. [14] These kinetics can be used in models which predict the pathway of TR. [15,16] The first step of the HTR loop is decomposition of the SEI.…”