Lithium-ion Battery Fires Research Articles

Dry water: Toward an ideal extinguishant for lithium-ion battery fire

Developing an environment-friendly, high-cooling, non-conductive, and low-cost extinguishant has been the focus on fighting lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires. In this work, dry water (DW), a powdered material containing copious amounts of liquid water, was first studied as an extinguishant for LIB fires. Benefiting from the core-shell structure and dispersibility properties as a dry powder, DW shows a high electric breakdown voltage, which enables it to overcome the conductivity drawback of liquid water. Moreover, although the endothermic enthalpies of DWs are only about 82.4–95.7 % of liquid water, their water evaporation rates are faster than liquid water, which brings DWs a better cooling effect than liquid water in suppressing thermal runaway propagation. Thus, DW combines the advantages of both liquid water (high cooling ability) and dry powder (low conductivity), and presents a great application potential to control LIB fires.

Characterisation of Smoke Particles from Lithium-Ion Battery Fire: Morphology, Size and Composition

The electrification of the transport sector is a necessary step to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in the atmosphere in order to mitigate climate change. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered a key enabling technology and are crucially important for the green energy transition. However, LIBs may pose safety concerns, as demonstrated by the recurrent fire accidents involving electric vehicles, according to news reports from recent years. Several studies concentrated mainly on the identification, composition and flammability of vented gases during LIBs thermal runaway and fires. Scarce work about the particle emissions during a LIB fire can be found in the literature. To fill up this research gap, in this study, we characterised smoke particles from Li-ion battery fire using Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to evaluate their size, morphology, crystallographic and chemical composition. Our results show that battery fire smoke particles contain chemical components and crystallographic phases that are toxic for health and environment. Moreover, we confirm the presence of (ultra) fine particles, reported previously, which due to their small size are inhalable and can therefore pose a serious risk to human health. Recommendations for further experimental studies are outlined to establish e.g. a correlation between smoke particles emissions and battery SOC, chemistry, abuse scenario, etc.

Characterizing the Cathode Degradation Process from Thermal Abuse in Solid State Batteries

With an ever-increasing reliance on batteries for all aspects of life, safety of energy storage is a growing concern as reported instances of lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires and even a solid-state battery (SSB) fire arise. However, the understanding of battery safety from a fundamental materials level is not well understood. As the push for higher energy density batteries in the electrification of transportation continues, it is imperative to understand how underlying material degradation and failure affects the safety of current and next-generation lithium battery technology.In this study, heat release and corresponding degradation due to external heating are explored for the following battery configurations: All solid-state batteries (ASSBs), SSBs containing a low amount of liquid electrolyte, and LIBs. NMC532 cathode was used in all battery configurations, Ta-doped LLZO was used for the solid electrolyte, and LiPF6 in EC/EMC was used as the liquid electrolyte in the SSB and LIB configurations. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to raise microcells to definitive temperatures of interest depending upon their respective exotherm profile. LIB sample heat release was significantly higher than the heat release of the ASSB and SSB, even though the heating temperature range and final temperature were lower for the LIB samples. The disassembled microcell components were then analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD analysis revealed the LIB samples did not show the presence of the fully degraded rock salt crystalline phase after peak heat release, whereas ASSB and SSB configurations revealed the presence of the rock salt phase. Additionally, SEM image analysis shows no degradation of the LIB particles, while ASSB and SSB samples show surface degradation of the high temperature samples. Decomposition of NMC to the rock salt phase involves the release of oxygen, which may undergo an exothermic reaction inside the SSB. These investigations shed light into the expected extent of NMC decomposition at key temperatures and exothermic heat flow peaks for each battery composition. Future work combining these results with further elemental characterization experiments will pave the way for a materials-level understanding that can be incorporated into the initial design and development stages of next generation lithium batteries, impacting the creation of energy storage devices by ensuring commitment to safety from the ground up.

(Invited) Battery System Safety Design Based on Studying the Runaway in Battery Cell

Lithium ion battery systems towards certain military application such as submarines and torpedoes are considered “fire critical applications”. Meaning a fire in the battery system on board a submarine is equal to a lost submarine with many crewmen dead. There have already been critical lithium ion battery fires on board submarines. In the united states a midget submarine were destroyed about fifteen years ago during the development phase of the submarine delaying the incorporation of lithium ion batteries in to marine platforms in the USA by about ten years even though no one were killed by the fire. Four years ago the Russian spy submarine Loshariks lithium ion battery system caught fire during the new battery systems maiden voyage. The fire started when the submarine were at a depth of about 200m below the surface of Barents ocean and 14 crewmen were killed almost all were high ranking officers. Too, be able to come up with a safe battery system design for the Swedish submarines we concluded that we need a strategy for the battery system design. We studied literature, conducted modelling work and carried out a lot of abuse test to understand what happens when a battery cell fails.What happens when a 21700 battery cell is overcharged? First the cell is heated to about 110-115°C and then the membrane between the anode and the cathode melts. In the next step the CIP opens up and hot gas is released at about 125 - 135°C. The cell self-heat itself, the temperature rises fast to about 190-200 ° C, then the gas caught fire, and a jet flame is formed with a temperature above 1100°C. A huge amount of hot gases mixed with sluggish particles is released from the top of the battery cell at high speed. The sluggish particles are black and look like a lava flow and when analysed they are found to be electric conductive. What is also interesting is that the lava particles slowly releases its heat to the surroundings, thus the particles kept at a high temperature for a relatively long-time. The surface of the battery cell reaches a peak temperature of about 300°C. This information is enough to start the battery module design work.Why is a round lithium battery cell the obvious choice for a safe high performing battery system? A runaway in round 21700 battery cell leads to axial expansion of 1-2mm the radial expiation is taken up by the design materials. A runaway in a prismatic or pouch cell battery the horizontal expansion can be several centimetres leading to an inefficient design to be able to take up the expansion of failing battery cell. To be able to do an efficient design to keep down the weight of the battery system the cells can be part of the mechanical design. When organizing the round battery cells symmetrically in a battery module each battery cell will work as springs in the right design material, thus be able to take up energy from an impact from an object. If the incoming object is a bullet at speed of 900m /s and a weight of 50 gram, the symmetrically organized battery cells will absorb the energy fast and only few of the battery cells in the module will be de destroyed and will start to burn.Finally yet importantly, the round battery cells are in most cases smaller than the prismatic battery cells for the same application thus contains less energy per battery cell.One battery cell can always burn, but a propagation in battery module or system is not an option for “Fire Critical Military Applications”.

Uncertainties in the use of oxygen consumption calorimetry for heat release measurements in lithium-ion battery fires

Accurate measurement of the heat release from a battery fire is vital for risk management, product development and construction of accurate models. Oxygen consumption calorimetry is the most common method for heat release measurements in experimental fire tests. The strength of the method is that it can be applied to unknown compositions of fuel with sufficient accuracy. Despite that this method is used to estimate heat release from battery fires, the method is subject to discussion. In this work, the method is studied in-depth, and potential errors are structured and quantified. Uncertainties associated with self-generated oxygen and internal heat generation, total gas release from the battery and impact on the heat release calculations, as well as the assumed E-factor (i.e., heat release per unit mass of oxygen consumed), are thoroughly discussed. For a Li-ion battery fire, it is concluded that oxygen consumption calorimetry will exclude internal heat generation and underestimate the total heat released from the external flaming fire by up to 10 %. In addition, high rate of combustion reactions can result in that the measured peak heat release rate is underestimated much more, up to 100 %.

Impedimetric Early Sensing of Volatile Organic Compounds Released from Li-Ion Batteries at Elevated Temperatures

Lithium-ion batteries prove to be a promising technology for achieving present and future goals regarding energy resources. However, a few cases of lithium-ion battery fires and failures caused by thermal runaway have been reported in various news articles; therefore, it is important to enhance the safety of the batteries and their end users. The early detection of thermal runaway by detecting gases/volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released at the initial stages of thermal runaway can be used as a warning to end users. An interdigitated platinum electrode spin-coated with a sub-micron thick layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) showed sensitivity for two VOCs (ethyl-methyl carbonate and methyl formate) released from Li-ion batteries during thermal runaway, as well as their binary mixtures at elevated temperatures, which were measured using impedance spectroscopy over a frequency range of 1 MHz to 1 Hz. The sensor response was tested at three different high temperatures (40 °C, 55 °C, and 70 °C) for single analytes and binary mixtures of two VOCs at 5 ppm, 15 ppm, and 30 ppm concentrations. Equivalent electrical parameters were derived from impedance data. A machine learning approach was used to classify the sensor’s response. Classification algorithms classify the sensor’s response at elevated temperatures for different analytes with an accuracy greater than 70%. The success of the reported sensors will enhance battery safety via the early detection of thermal runaway.

Exposure Assessment Study on Lithium-Ion Battery Fire in Explosion Test Room in Battery Testing Facility

A lithium-ion battery is a rechargeable battery that uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy and is the predominant battery type in many industrial and consumer electronics. The lithium-ion batteries are essential to ensure they operate safely. We conducted an exposure assessment five days after a fire in a battery-testing facility. We assessed some of the potentially hazardous materials after a lithium-ion battery fire. We sampled total suspended particles, hydrogen fluoride, and lithium with real-time monitoring of particulate matter (PM) 1, 2.5, and 10 micrometers (μm). The area sampling results indicated that primary potential hazardous materials such as dust, hydrogen fluoride, and lithium were below the recommended limits suggested by the Korean Ministry of Labor and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values. Based on our assessment, workers were allowed to return to work.

Lagrangian plume rise and dispersion modelling of the large-scale lithium-ion battery fire in Morris, USA, 2021

AbstractThis article puts a perspective to the health risks of smoke from lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires by retrospect simulations of the large-scale event in a warehouse in Morris, IL, USA where about 60 metric tonnes of LIB set on fire on of June 29, 2021. Possible scenarios are sketched where ground concentration maps of PM2.5 reveal large areas of tens of square kilometres exceeding the action levels set up by the authorities for the event. Besides high concentration in the close vicinity, the plume touchdown is found to be located 5–10 km away from the source. In contrast, irritant gases including HF did not exceed the action levels. The reconstruction of the event was conducted using details from interviews with the owner and first-responders on site, which subsequently was used as input data to a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model. Plume rise due to buoyant flux in a Lagrangian dispersion model was accomplished by adding a vertical speed component derived from discretization of the well-known Briggs formulation. Emission factors were collected from the published scientific literature and implemented in combination with warehouse inventory and visual observations. The importance of this work becomes apparent in view of the rapid increase of LIB’s in, e.g., transportation and energy storage with accompanied fire accidents. These findings support precautions in infrastructure handling LIBs and particularly in large amounts.

Calculating Heat Release Rates from Lithium-Ion Battery Fires: A Methodology Using Digital Imaging

Measuring flame lengths and areas from turbulent flame flares developing from lithium-ion battery failures is complex due to the varying directions of the flares, the thin flame zone, the spatially and temporally rapid changes of the thermal runaway event, as well as the hazardous nature of the event. This paper reports a novel methodology for measuring heat release rate from flame flares resulting from thermal runaway of electric vehicle lithium-ion modules comprising eight 56.3Ah lithium nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) pouch cells using digital cameras and a newly developed numerical code to process the distortion of the flame size based on distance, direction, and shape. The model is tested with a set of experiments using lithium-ion battery packs and validated with a reference set of measurements using calibration boxes, a method commonly used in the reconstruction of flame areas. The experiments showed that the effect of calibration is large, and thus digital imaging without the appropriate calibration can give very large errors in measurement of flames. The combined imaging and processing method proposed in this work allows the determination of heat release rates from lithium-ion battery packs, one of the most challenging variables to quantify during the failure of a battery pack outside the laboratory. In the example experiment that this method was applied to, almost double the heat released was accounted for, meaning 50% of the total heat released would not have been accounted for without this image processing method.

Experimental study on exploration of optimum extinguishing agent for 243 Ah lithium iron phosphate battery fires

Nowadays, an effective and clean extinguishing agent or technology is highly desirable for lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires. Herein, the physicochemical properties and extinguishing effects of various extinguishing agents on 243 Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery fires are investigated systematically. The extinguishing mechanisms are deeply analyzed and the performance is comprehensively evaluated from the aspects of thermal runaway (TR) and toxicity suppression, cooling and extinguishing efficiency. Compared with HFC-227ea, C6F12O can absorb more heat through vaporization, thereby improving extinguishing and cooling efficiency. The lack of chemical inhibition effect and the tiny droplet size make water mist unable to suppress the high-temperature jet fire, but it has the lowest toxicity and highest cooling efficiency of 54.6%. F-500 and FireIce can improve the extinguishing performance of the water mist by encapsulating and taking hydrocarbon fuel away from the fire zone and inhibiting free radicals in the flame, respectively. 3% F-500 has the extinguishing efficiency of 78.4% and TR efficiency of 64.1%, while maintaining the cooling performance well. In the future, a novel type of fire-extinguishing agent with high heat capacity and latent heat, excellent extinguishing performance, high wettability, low toxicity and insulating properties is expected to be developed for LIB fires.

Comparative study on the influence of incident heat flux on thermal runaway fire development of large-format lithium-ion batteries

In response to the growing demand for higher energy density in various applications, large-format batteries have gained popularity. However, the larger size of these batteries also increases their exposed area, which may lead to more severe thermal events. This study aims to understand the influence of incident heat flux on the occurrence and progression patterns of fires in large-format lithium-ion batteries. Two representative large-format lithium-ion batteries, 38 Ah LiNi0.3Co0.3Mn0.3O2 prismatic cell and 78 Ah LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 pouch cell, were investigated. To evaluate the thermal hazard to the environment, the heat release rates (HRR) of the lithium-ion battery fire were measured under incident heat fluxes ranging from 10 to 50 kW∙m−2, using the oxygen consumption principle. The results highlight significant differences in thermal runaway and fire development between the 38 Ah and 78 Ah cells, attributable to variations in structure and materials, and scale effect. The 38 Ah cell exhibited an evident venting stage, characterized by an unignited jet on the verge of ignition, followed by a transition from momentum-driven jet fire to buoyancy-driven jet fire. In contrast, the 78 Ah cell experienced direct ignition, accompanied by strong air entrainment, overflow flame, and flame sinking phenomena as the fire progressed. Notably, unlike the 38 Ah cell, the peak HRR, THR, and burning time of the 78 Ah cell were minimally sensitivity to the incident heat flux. Furthermore, a generalized relationship model between the incident heat flux and the ignition time was established and validated based on the energy conservation equation during the ignition stage of the cell. This model enhances our understanding of the interplay between incident heat flux and ignition time, contributing to the development of strategies for fire prevention and mitigation in large-format lithium-ion batteries.

Study on the Corrosion of Iron by Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Extinguishing Agent - Perfluorinated Hexanone

ABSTRACT In recent years, perfluorinated hexanone has been widely used as a fire extinguishing agent for lithium-ion batteries in China. However, it can cause corrosion of ferrous materials in LIBs/batteries, such as storage tanks, battery boxes and ferrous connectors, while extinguishing LIBs fires. Therefore, when storing or using perfluorinated hexanone, it may cause secondary disasters. In order to clarify the corrosion mechanism and the structure of the products of perfluorinated hexanone on iron, we designed experiments to obtain “iron corrosion product”. Then the main components of the corrosion products were studied by various chemical analysis methods and the corrosion mechanism was proposed. The results show that the main component of “iron corrosion product” is (CF3CF2COO)3Fe, which is generated by the reaction of CF3CF2COOH, the decomposition product of perfluorinated hexanone, with iron oxides. Accordingly, it can be determined that perfluorinated hexanone has certain safety hazards when used as a lithium-ion battery fire extinguishing agent. In order to avoid the above safety hazards of perfluorinated hexanone, it is recommended that when storing and using perfluorinated hexanone, it needs to be protected from light and moisture.

Risk assessment of lithium-ion battery road transportation using the data-driven Bayesian network considering battery self-heating

As a key component in electric vehicles or electronic devices, highly flammable lithium-ion batteries have been a growing concern for transportation safety, as evidenced by a number of lithium-ion battery fires in vehicle containers. Therefore, it is important to assess the key risk factors for fire accidents during the transportation of lithium-ion batteries. This study proposes a dynamic Bayesian assessment model for the transport risk assessment of lithium-ion batteries considering battery self-heating. A simulation model is constructed to explore the self-heating law of lithium-ion batteries and quantify their self-heating risk during transportation process. Based on Bayesian networks, a lithium-ion battery transportation risk assessment model is constructed by combining historical accident data and expert knowledge. The prediction results show that transportation accidents become more severe as transportation time increases. After four hours of transportation, the risk value was 12.28 % higher than that at the beginning. The battery self-heating and the improper handling are the most likely risk factor for fatal accidents, with a probability of 92.2 % and 72.4 % respectively, and these two risk factors have a great influence on accident severity. The mutual information of the ambient temperature is nearly four times that of the critical ambient temperature, indicating the ambient temperature is the key factor influencing the battery self-heating. This work aims to provide a theoretical basis for improving battery safety and reducing hazards during transportation.

<em>In Situ</em> Gas Analysis and Fire Characterization of Lithium-Ion Cells During Thermal Runaway Using an Environmental Chamber

An experimental apparatus and a standard operating procedure (SOP) are developed to collect time-resolved data on the gas compositions and fire characteristics during and post-thermal runaway of lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells. A 18650 cylindrical cell is conditioned to a desired state-of-charge (SOC; 30%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) before each experiment. The conditioned cell is forced into a thermal runaway by an electrical heating tape at a constant heating rate (10 °C/min) in an environmental chamber (volume: ~600 L). The chamber is connected to a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) gas analyzer for real-time concentration measurements. Two camcorders are used to record major events, such as cell venting, thermal runaway, and the subsequent burning process. The conditions of the cell, such as surface temperature, mass loss, and voltage, are also recorded. With the data obtained, cell pseudo-properties, venting gas compositions, and venting mass rate can be deduced as functions of cell temperature and cell SOC. While the test procedure is developed for a single cylindrical cell, it can be readily extended to test different cell formats and study fire propagation between multiple cells. The collected experimental data can also be used for the development of numerical models for LIB fires.

An analytically reduced chemistry scheme for large eddy simulation of lithium-ion battery fires

The recent evolution of Lithium-Ion cells toward increasing energy-to-weight ratios makes them prone to critical events such as Thermal Runaway. Flammable and toxic gases are suddenly produced from the decomposition of internal components. To avoid an uncontrolled opening of the cell casing, the gases are vented out, which can potentially lead to fire. In this paper, six gaseous mixtures sampled experimentally, based on four different cathode materials are first compared for commonly observed 0D and 1D combustion processes. A single Analytically Reduced Chemistry scheme is derived for the six mixtures to lower computational cost and allow 3D high fidelity simulations. In comparison to the root detailed scheme, the reduced scheme offers low errors and an average speed up of 5.5 when computing targeted 1D flames, making it suitable for a 3D reactive Large Eddy Simulation of a burning so called “18650”-type cell. Such 3D simulations show a true potential to study simple safety design choices prior to any experimental investigation, reducing development costs. Under the same venting conditions, the number of venting holes is predicted to play a crucial role on flame intrinsic behavior.

A novel dry powder extinguishant with high cooling performance for suppressing lithium ion battery fires

Fighting lithium ion battery (LIB) fire has always been a hard work, due to the uncontrollable internal thermal runaway (TR) reactions of LIBs. In this work, a kind of inorganic phase change material composited commercial dry power extinguishant was studied for LIB fire. Different with the traditional dry powder extinguishants, the composite dry powers exhibited large heat absorbing capacities below the TR temperatures of LIBs. The results of LIB TR propagation suppression experiment show that the composite dry powers not only can extinguish LIB fire, but also can suppress LIB TR propagation. Moreover, the composite dry powers still keep the advantages of low cost, insulation and environment friendliness. This work delivers a novel method for designing more practical dry power extinguishants to suppress LIB fires.

The Efficiency of Perfluorohexanone on Suppressing Lithium-Ion Battery Fire and Its Device Development

The Efficiency of Perfluorohexanone on Suppressing Lithium-Ion Battery Fire and Its Device Development

An empirical model for lithium-ion battery fires for CFD applications

An empirical model for lithium-ion battery fires for CFD applications

Safety of Lithium Battery for New Energy Vehicles: A Literature Review

An overview of the causes of lithium-ion battery fires, what types of extinguishing agents are used when a fire occurs, and how to effectively prevent fires from occurring. It describes in detail the potential factors required for lithium-ion battery fires and related real-world cases, the advantages and disadvantages of various extinguishing agents and whether they can be used in automobiles, and the lithium-ion battery safety systems that have been designed and how they work.

Special Issue on Design and Manufacturing for Environmental Sustainability

This is the sixth special issue on Design and Manufacturing for Environmental Sustainability. As the first special issue on this topic was issued in 2009, the topic has thirteen years of history in this journal. Environmental sustainability was recognized as important for manufacturing even at that time. This is why the special issue was started in this journal. The seriousness of this topic has been increasing not only in Europe but also in Japan and other countries. One critical trend as of late has been the way that the attitude of companies regarding this issue, including their positions on carbon neutrality, circular economy, and biodiversity, has come to determine the value of the company in the eyes of, for example, environment, society, and governance (ESG) finance. Nowadays, we cannot say sustainability or business; we should pursue businesses that contribute to sustainability. This sixth special issue includes eighteen well-written papers, with one more paper to follow. This series of special issues has focused on topics related to ecodesign, recycling, remanufacturing, low-energy and low-emission manufacturing, and circular economy. The papers in this special issue are also deeply related to these topics. As a result of the thirteen-year history of the special issue, we have been able to learn some viewpoints specific to the series in this journal. This has led this special issue to consist of four subcategories, although they are not explicitly represented in the table of contents. The first subcategory consists of seven papers, from the first paper by K. Halada et al. to the seventh paper by A. Yoshimura et al. These papers are related to design, including evaluation, business, remanufacturing, and materials. Among others, the important viewpoint common to these papers is the “flow” of product lifecycles and materials. The second category starts with the eighth paper by C. Ye et al. and ends with the eleventh paper by Y. Yamashita et al. These papers deal with manufacturing issues in the context of the environmental sustainability. For example, the eighth paper deals with the crushing of a photovoltaic panel, and the nineth paper by T. Cheng et al. deals with detecting lithium-ion battery fires, which are a serious problem for recycling plants. The application of additive manufacturing to remanufacturing discussed in the tenth paper by N. Sato et al. is also an important topic in the field of sustainable manufacturing. The third subcategory consists of three papers, from the twelfth paper by J.-C. Tu et al. to the fourteenth by A. Y. T. Panuju et al. These are related to consumer behavior. The fourth subcategory, from the fifteenth paper by M. Kojima to the last paper by S. Tajima, deals with issues related to developing countries and locality. These two topics of consumer behavior and developing countries are indispensable to the discussion of environmental sustainability, yet they are rarely discussed in engineering journals. The editor believes that no other journal deals with these four subcategories in a special issue. Most of the papers, revised and extended in response to the editor’s invitations, were originally presented at EcoDesign 2021: the 12th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, which was held online. The editor sincerely thanks the authors and reviewers for their devoted work in making this special issue possible. We hope that these articles will encourage further research into design and manufacturing for environmental sustainability.