Fire Characterization and Gas Analysis of Lithium-Ion Batteries During Thermal Runaway

The objective of this work is to investigate the unique chemistry of fires associated with lithium-ion battery (LIB) thermal-runaway and its scalability. Experiments are conducted to collect data on the gas compositions and fire characteristics during and post-thermal runaway of LIB cells. Two different types of cell formats, 18650 cylindrical cell and pouch cell are considered. Prior to the experiments, cells are conditioned to different states-of-charge (SOC). The cells are then placed in an environmental chamber of volume ~ 600L and are forced into thermal runaway by an electrical heating tape at a heating rate of 10 ?C/minute. The chamber is connected to a FTIR gas analyzer for real-time concentration measurements and camcorders are used to record the cell venting and burning events. Thermocouples are placed on and near the cell samples to monitor the temperatures of the cell surface and the surrounding gas. In addition, the weight and voltage of the cell are also recorded. The experiments are conducted first at a single cell level and then at a module level. Results of different SOCs are compared. The fire scaling characteristics and flame spread between cells in the module configuration are also examined in detail. Data collected in this work will ultimately be used to develop a robust numerical model for the LIB fires.