Thermal explosion hazards on 18650 lithium ion batteries with a VSP2 adiabatic calorimeter

Abstract

Thermal abuse behaviors relating to adiabatic runaway reactions in commercial 18650 lithium ion batteries (LiCoO 2) are being studied in an adiabatic calorimeter, vent sizing package 2 (VSP2). We select four worldwide battery producers, Sony, Sanyo, Samsung and LG, and tested their Li-ion batteries, which have LiCoO 2 cathodes, to determine their thermal instabilities and adiabatic runaway features. The charged (4.2 V) and uncharged (3.7 V) 18650 Li-ion batteries are tested using a VSP2 with a customized stainless steel test can to evaluate their thermal hazard characteristics, such as the initial exothermic temperature ( T 0), the self-heating rate (d T/d t), the pressure rise rate (d P/d t), the pressure–temperature profiles and the maximum temperature ( T max) and pressure ( P max). The T max and P max of the charged Li-ion battery during the runaway reaction reach 903.0 °C and 1565.9 psig (pound-force per square inch gauge), respectively. This result leads to a thermal explosion, and the heat of reaction is 26.2 kJ. The thermokinetic parameters of the reaction of LiCoO 2 batteries are also determined using the Arrhenius model. The thermal reaction mechanism of the Li-ion battery (pack) proved to be an important safety concern for energy storage. Additionally, use of the VSP2 to classify the self-reactive ratings of the various Li-ion batteries demonstrates a new application of the adiabatic calorimetric methodology.