Quantification of Lithium-ion Cell Thermal Runaway Energetics

Much of what is known about lithium-ion cell thermal runaway energetics has been measured and extrapolated from data acquired on relatively small cells (< 3 Ah). This work is aimed at understanding the effects of cell size on thermal runaway energetics on cells from 3 to 50 Ah of both LiFePO4 (LFP) and LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) chemistries. Results show that for both LFP and NCA cells, the normalized heating rate (W/Ah) increases roughly linearly for cells from 3-38 Ah while the normalized total heat released (kJ/Ah) is relatively constant over that cell size range. The magnitude of the normalized heating rate is on the order of 2x greater for NCA relative to LFP chemistries for 2-3 Ah cells, while that difference is on the order of 10x for 30-40 Ah cells. The total normalized heat release is ~ 15-20% greater for NCA relative to LFP cells across the entire size range studied 3-38 Ah.