Modeling and analysis of thermal runaway in Li-ion cell

Abstract

Thermal runaway is the top safety concern for Li-ion electrochemical energy storage systems. There are multiple abuse conditions that may cause thermal runaway in Li-ion cells. Although thermal runaway has been extensively studied, the runaway mechanisms due to external short circuit and ultra-high discharge rates (>10C) are relatively less studied. In the present work, an analytical thermal runaway model is developed to predict thermal runaway in prismatic and pouch Li-ion cells due to either external short circuit or ultra-high discharge rates. The heat generation data corresponding to the ultra-high discharge rates considered in the thermal runaway model have been obtained separately using an electrochemical-thermal coupled model. The analytical thermal runaway model is validated against experiments as well as COMSOL, a finite element-based commericial solver. Using the analytical model, the effects of key parameters on cell safety have been analyzed. Finally, the analytical model has been used to evaluate effectiveness of a thermal runaway prevention strategy based on boiling in minichannels of a water-cooled minichannel based battery thermal management system.