Simultaneous measurement of multiple thermal hazards associated with a failure of prismatic lithium ion battery

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are efficient, high-density electrical energy storage devices utilized in a perpetually increasing range of applications. One of the weaknesses of LIBs is that a small deviation from the normal operating conditions may cause an irreversible failure accompanied by a rapid self-heating and ejection of combustible gases and aerosols. The information on how much energy is released upon failure is critical for design of energy storage systems. In the current study, a novel technique, Copper Slug Battery Calorimetry (CSBC), was combined with oxygen consumption calorimetry to measure the rate of heat generated inside an LIB cell (P-IHG) and the rate of heat generated as a result of combustion of ejected battery materials (P-Flaming). A short duct equipped with a perforated plate was added to the original design of the CSBC apparatus to collect gases and aerosols ejected from , the cell, reduce their flow speed and deliver them to a hot-wire igniter, which was used to initiate a diffusion flame. The exhaust from this flame was collected to measure the oxygen consumed in the combustion process and compute Palming. This approach to handling the ejected materials increased their combustion efficiency and eliminated thermal feedback from the flame to the cell, which enabled simultaneous measurement of P-1HG and P-Flaming. The new setup was employed to investigate thermally induced failure of an 1880 mA h prismatic LIB at various states of charge (SOC). It was determined that, at 100% SOC, this LIB released 33 +/- 1.0 kJ of energy into the body of the cell and 113 +/- 19 kJ was produced as a result of combustion of the ejected battery materials. The latter value is significantly greater than those previously reported for similarly sized cells, which can be explained by a more complete combustion achieved in this new apparatus. (C) 2018 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.