Identification of Key Events and Emissions during Thermal Abuse Testing on NCA 18650 Cells

Sofia Ubaldi, Marco Conti, Francesco Marra and Paola Russo ()
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Sofia Ubaldi: Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Marco Conti: Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Francesco Marra: Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Paola Russo: Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Thermal abuse of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) leads to the emission of gases, solids, fires and/or explosions. Therefore, it is essential to define the temperatures at which key events occur (i.e., CID activation, venting, and thermal runaway (TR)) and to identify the related emissions for identifying the hazards to which people and especially rescue teams are exposed. For this purpose, thermal abuse tests were performed on commercial lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) 18650 cells at 50% state of charge in a reactor connected to an FT-IR spectrometer by varying test conditions (feed gas of N 2 or air; heating rates of 5 or 10 °C/min until 300 °C). In particular, the concentrations of the gases and the composition of the condensed-phase emissions were estimated. As regards gases, a high concentration (1695 ppmv) of hydrofluoric acid (HF) was measured, while the emissions of condensed matter consisted of organic compounds such as polyethylene oxide and paraffin oil, and inorganic compounds containing Li (0.173 mg/m 3 ) and Al (0.344 mg/m 3 ). The main safety concerns were caused by the temperatures (564 ± 85 °C) reached by the cell during TR, by the HF concentration which exceeded the toxicity limits of 30 ppm, the IDLH defined by the NIOSH, and the diameter of the particles (1.54 ± 0.69 µm) that rose the PM2.5 concentration. These results are also useful for identifying personal protection equipment for rescue teams.

Keywords: thermal abuse test; lithium-ion batteries; venting; thermal runaway; gas analysis; FT-IR; SEM-EDS; ICP-OES; AAS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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