Issue 1, 2012

Investigation on the fire-induced hazards of Li-ion battery cells by fire calorimetry

Abstract

The use of the high energy Li-ion battery technology for emerging markets like electromobility requires precise appraisal of their safety levels in abuse conditions. Combustion tests were performed on commercial pouch cells by means of the Fire Propagation Apparatus also called Tewarson calorimeter in the EU, so far used to study flammability parameters of polymers and chemicals. Well-controlled conditions for cell combustion are created in such an apparatus with the opportunity to analyse standard decomposition/combustion gases and therefore to quantify thermal and toxic threat parameters governing the fire risk namely the rate of heat release and the effective heat of combustion as well as the toxic product releases. Using the method of O2 consumption, total combustion heats and its kinetic of production were determined as a function of the cell state of charge unveiling an explosion risk in the case of a charged cell. The resulting combustion heat is revealed to be consistent with cumulated contribution values pertaining to each organic part of the cell (polymers and electrolytes) as calculated from thermodynamic data. The first order evaluation of the dangerousness of toxic gases resulting from fire induced combustion such as HF, CO, NO, SO2 and HCl was undertaken and stressed the fact that HF is the most critical gas originating from F-containing cell components in our test conditions.

Graphical abstract: Investigation on the fire-induced hazards of Li-ion battery cells by fire calorimetry

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Jul 2012
Accepted
15 Aug 2011
First published
22 Sep 2011

Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 5271-5280

Investigation on the fire-induced hazards of Li-ion battery cells by fire calorimetry

P. Ribière, S. Grugeon, M. Morcrette, S. Boyanov, S. Laruelle and G. Marlair, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 5271 DOI: 10.1039/C1EE02218K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements