Experimental Study of Thermal Runaway Process of 50 Ah Prismatic Nickel-Rich Battery

Abstract

Hazardous combustion and explosions during thermal runaway (TR) processes in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) present a significant limitation to their widespread adoption. The objective of this study was to quantitatively reveal the eruption characteristics of LIBs. A commercially available prismatic cell with a capacity of 50 Ah was employed, featuring Li(Ni0.6Co0.2Mn0.2)O2 as the cathode material and graphite as the anode material. The investigation focused on the thermal runaway behavior at 100% state of charge (SOC). Three replicates of thermal runaway experiments were conducted within a 1000 L lithium battery adiabatic experimental chamber (AEC) under a nitrogen atmosphere, and the thermal runaway moments were captured using a high-speed camera. The ejection velocity of smoke during the opening of the safety valve was approximately 40 m/s; within an extremely short time frame following the opening of the safety valve, the jet stream temperature reached a peak value of 340.6 ± 42.0 °C; the duration of the ultra-high-speed jet was 12.0 ± 1.0 s, the high-speed jet lasted 9.9 ± 2.2 s, and the slow-speed jet persisted for 32.1 ± 3.0 s, resulting in an overall ejection duration of 53.9 ± 6.0 s.