Comprehensive calorimetry of the thermally-induced failure of a lithium ion battery

A lithium ion battery (LIB) subjected to external heat may fail irreversibly. Manifestations of this failure include venting of potentially combustible gases and aerosols followed by a rapid self-heating accompanied by ejection of the battery materials. It is important to be able to quantify the dynamics and energetics of this process to ensure safety of the energy storage systems utilizing LIBs. Here we report on development of a new experimental technique for the measurement of energetics of a thermally-induced battery failure. This technique, Copper Slug Battery Calorimetry (CSBC), was employed to investigate a widely utilized LIB of 2200 mAh capacity at various states of charge (SOC). It was shown that this techniques yields time and temperature resolved data on the rate of heat production inside the failing battery. The total energy generated inside the battery was found to increase with increasing SOC to the maximum value of 34.0 ± 1.8 kJ. To capture the energetics of flaming combustion of the materials ejected from the battery, CSBC was coupled with a cone calorimeter, which measures heat released in a non-premixed flame. The maximum amount of energy released by the battery through flaming combustion of ejected materials was found to be 97.5 ± 12.4 kJ.