LiBTR · Modelling of thermal runaway propagation in lithium-ion battery packs

Modelling of thermal runaway propagation in lithium-ion battery packs

The need to alleviate energy crisis and de-carbonize has promoted a rapid expansion of the electrification for transport and energy storage. With relatively high energy density, extended cycle lifespan and trivial environmental pollution, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been utilized as the most promising energy storage devices of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESS). However, the potential safety problems of lithium ion batteries, especially the proliferating fire and explosion accidents resulted from thermal runaway (TR) , cause disastrous damages to economy and life safety of consumers and undermine their confidence on LIBs, which therefore are the existing obstructions of the generalization of LIBs. Safety issues due to thermal runaway (TR) of lithium-ion batteries are the main obstacles that hinder their wider applications. A comprehensive model can potentially help improve understanding of the TR mechanisms and improve battery pack design. The research aims to develop and validate a predictive tool for TR propagation in LIB packs based on LibFOAM the single cell TR model developed by the host and FireFOAM, the fire simulation solver of open source CFD code OpenFOAM. The following specific research objectives are set towards achieving this goal: Calibrate LibFOAM for predicting the onset of TR in a single cell under different failure modes and establish the key influencing parameters; Extend LibFOAM by coupling it with FireFOAM to predict the release of gases prior to and following TR initiation in the triggering cell as well as the subsequent ignition and combustion of the released gases to obtain the resulting thermal environment within the cell groups; Further extend LibFOAM to predict TR propagation in battery modules and packs; Validated the extended LibFOAM with experimental data in the literature and data to be generated by the ER’s home institution as well as proprietary data from the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in an ongoing collaborative project; Use the validated LibFOAM to investigate the effects of different mitigation measures to inhibit TR propagation

Data: CORDIS, © European Union