Effectiveness of Heat Insulation and Heat Dissipation for Mitigating Thermal Runaway Propagation in Lithium-Ion Battery Module

Experiments are conducted on battery modules to study the effectiveness of heat insulation, heat dissipation, and their combination for mitigating thermal runaway propagation. Aluminum plates and cooling fins are used to enhance heat dissipation, and aerogel plates are used to enhance heat insulation. All experiments are carried out in a confined space to simulate the actual battery service environment. The characteristics of battery temperature, battery voltage, ambient temperature and flame during the thermally-induced thermal runaway propagation process have been compared and analyzed. The results show that: (1) enhancing heat insulation can significantly delay the propagation of thermal runaway, but it cannot reduce the risk of fire; (2) enhancing heat dissipation can also delay the propagation of thermal runaway and significantly reduce the peak temperature of the battery, so as to reduce the fire risk and reduce the ambient temperature; (3) the combination of heat insulation and heat dissipation can effectively prevent the propagation of thermal runaway, and reduce the risk of fire. Therefore, both heat insulation and heat dissipation should be considered in the design of battery thermal management system to effectively prevent the propagation of thermal runaway and reduce the harm of thermal runaway.