Influence of Ambient Pressure and Heating Power on the Thermal Runaway Features of Lithium-Ion Battery

Abstract The thermal runaway hazards pose a serious threat to the application and transport of lithium-ion batteries on the aircraft. Hence, the researches of thermal safety in flight condition are necessary. In this study, the tests were conducted in a dynamic pressure chamber to study the effects of ambient pressure and heating power on the thermal runaway characteristics. The results show that the fierce behaviors of jet fire, deflagration, and explosion only were observed in high ambient pressure with high heating power. The open time of the safety valve is advanced as pressure from 95 kPa to 20 kPa. The parameters of heat release rate (HRR), total heat release (THR), cell surface temperature, peak concentration of CO2, and mass loss decrease as the descend of external pressure or heating power. The peak values of hydrocarbon (CHx) and CO increase with the descent of pressure but decrease as the reduction of heating power. The effects of ambient pressure on the thermal runaway (TR) fire behaviors mainly attribute to the low oxygen density. The time of heating and smoking may account for the difference of TR behaviors with various heating power. It is revealed that the fire risk and the hazards of toxic/flammable gas emissions are tightly relative to the TR behaviors. These results provide valuable proposals and inspiration for the safety warning and hazard reduction under low pressure.