Experimental study of gas production and flame behavior induced by the thermal runaway of 280 Ah lithium iron phosphate battery

• Published in: Journal of energy storage Vol. 74; p. 109368
• Main Authors: Wang, Shuping, Song, Laifeng, Li, Changhao, Tian, Jiamin, Jin, Kaiqiang, Duan, Qiangling, Wang, Qingsong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25.12.2023
• Subjects: Fire; Gas; Lithium-ion battery safety; Overheating; Thermal runaway; Gas; Lithium-ion battery safety; Thermal runaway; Fire; Overheating
• ISSN: 2352-152X; 2352-1538
• DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2023.109368

With the popularization and application of lithium-ion batteries in the field of energy storage, safety issue has attracted more attention. Thermal runaway is the main cause of lithium-ion battery accidents. A major trend in battery development is to increase the capacity of individual batteries, and large-capacity batteries tend to cause more serious damage when thermal runaway occurs. The paper studied the gas production and flame behavior of the 280 Ah large capacity lithium iron phosphate battery under different SOC and analyzed the surface temperature, voltage, and mass loss of the battery during the process of thermal runaway comprehensively. The thermal runaway of the battery was caused by external heating. The results show that the thermal runaway process can be divided into four stages, and there is a clear thermal runaway internal spreading phenomenon. TR temperature is almost the same under the ignition and the gas condition and is greatly affected by the state of charge. The hazards for the gas scenario are presented as toxicity, asphyxiation and combustion risk, and the flame scenario is presented as the thermal hazard. The work could provide a reference for the process safety design and reduce the fire risk. •Gas production and flame behavior are compared under 50 % and 100 % SOC.•The percentage of specific gas components and the heat release rate are calculated in thermal runaway.•Thermal runaway hazards are toxicity, asphyxiation and combustion risks for gas and thermal damage for flame.