IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i1p155-d1559063.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Early Detection and Suppression of Thermal Runaway in Large-Format Lithium-Ion Batteries: Insights from Experimental Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Sungsik Choi

    (Korea Testing & Research Institute, 98, Gyoyugwon-ro, Gwacheon-si 13810, Republic of Korea)

  • Keunhyung Lee

    (Korea Testing & Research Institute, 98, Gyoyugwon-ro, Gwacheon-si 13810, Republic of Korea)

  • Jaehoon Kim

    (Korea Testing & Research Institute, 98, Gyoyugwon-ro, Gwacheon-si 13810, Republic of Korea)

  • Seun Oh

    (Korea Testing & Research Institute, 98, Gyoyugwon-ro, Gwacheon-si 13810, Republic of Korea)

  • Jaehyun Joo

    (Korea Testing & Research Institute, 98, Gyoyugwon-ro, Gwacheon-si 13810, Republic of Korea)

  • Eunsoo Bae

    (Korea Energy Solution Institute, 405, Expo-ro, Daejeon 34051, Republic of Korea)

  • Hyeonu Lee

    (Korea Gas Safety Corporation, 1467-51, Songhakjucheon-ro, Yeongwol-gun 26203, Republic of Korea)

  • Misung Kim

    (Korea Testing & Research Institute, 98, Gyoyugwon-ro, Gwacheon-si 13810, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries have been increasingly demonstrated in reuse applications for environmental and economic reasons, and stationary energy storage systems (ESS) and mobile ESS are emerging as reuse applications for electric vehicle batteries. Most mobile ESS deployments are at large scales, necessitating experimental data on thermal runaway (TR) to ensure comprehensive safety. In this study, TR induction and suppression experiments were conducted using fully charged NCM-based batteries at the cell (750 Wh), module (7.5 kWh), and pack (74 kWh) levels. The stepwise TR experiments measured changes in temperature, voltage, heat release rate, volatile organic compound concentrations, and vent gas composition. The suppression experiments assessed the effective water injection rate, timing, and volume required to mitigate TR propagation. The results demonstrate that in the case of TR caused by thermal abuse, early detection of battery abnormalities is possible through monitoring pre-TR indicators, such as temperature and vent gas concentration. It was also confirmed that CO 2 injections can effectively cool the battery without causing damage. Furthermore, it is proposed that rapid water injection, directly contacting the battery immediately after the onset of TR, can successfully prevent TR propagation.

Suggested Citation

  • Sungsik Choi & Keunhyung Lee & Jaehoon Kim & Seun Oh & Jaehyun Joo & Eunsoo Bae & Hyeonu Lee & Misung Kim, 2025. "Early Detection and Suppression of Thermal Runaway in Large-Format Lithium-Ion Batteries: Insights from Experimental Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-20, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:1:p:155-:d:1559063
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/155/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/155/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Zonghou & Zhao, Chunpeng & Li, Huang & Peng, Wen & Zhang, Zheng & Wang, Qingsong, 2020. "Experimental study on thermal runaway and its propagation in the large format lithium ion battery module with two electrical connection modes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniels, Rojo Kurian & Kumar, Vikas & Chouhan, Satyendra Singh & Prabhakar, Aneesh, 2024. "Thermal runaway fault prediction in air-cooled lithium-ion battery modules using machine learning through temperature sensors placement optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    2. Huang, Zonghou & Shen, Ting & Jin, Kaiqiang & Sun, Jinhua & Wang, Qingsong, 2022. "Heating power effect on the thermal runaway characteristics of large-format lithium ion battery with Li(Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3)O2 as cathode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    3. E, Jiaqiang & Xiao, Hanxu & Tian, Sicheng & Huang, Yuxin, 2024. "A comprehensive review on thermal runaway model of a lithium-ion battery: Mechanism, thermal, mechanical, propagation, gas venting and combustion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    4. Huang, Zonghou & Yu, Yin & Duan, Qiangling & Qin, Peng & Sun, Jinhua & Wang, Qingsong, 2022. "Heating position effect on internal thermal runaway propagation in large-format lithium iron phosphate battery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    5. Zhengxin, Jiang & Qin, Shi & Yujiang, Wei & Hanlin, Wei & Bingzhao, Gao & Lin, He, 2021. "An Immune Genetic Extended Kalman Particle Filter approach on state of charge estimation for lithium-ion battery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    6. Ouyang, Nan & Zhang, Wencan & Yin, Xiuxing & Li, Xingyao & Xie, Yi & He, Hancheng & Long, Zhuoru, 2023. "A data-driven method for predicting thermal runaway propagation of battery modules considering uncertain conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    7. Shen, Dongxu & Wu, Lifeng & Kang, Guoqing & Guan, Yong & Peng, Zhen, 2021. "A novel online method for predicting the remaining useful life of lithium-ion batteries considering random variable discharge current," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    8. Jia, Zhuangzhuang & Huang, Zonghou & Zhai, Hongju & Qin, Pen & Zhang, Yue & Li, Yawen & Wang, Qingsong, 2022. "Experimental investigation on thermal runaway propagation of 18,650 lithium-ion battery modules with two cathode materials at low pressure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    9. Cao, Yanfang & Wang, Kuo & Wang, Zhirong & Wang, Junling & Yang, Yun & Xu, Xiangyu, 2023. "Utilization of liquid nitrogen as efficient inhibitor upon thermal runaway of 18650 lithium ion battery in open space," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1097-1105.
    10. Li, Kuijie & Chen, Long & Gao, Xinlei & Lu, Yao & Wang, Depeng & Zhang, Weixin & Wu, Weixiong & Han, Xuebing & Cao, Yuan-cheng & Wen, Jinyu & Cheng, Shijie & Ouyang, Minggao, 2024. "Implementing expansion force-based early warning in LiFePO4 batteries with various states of charge under thermal abuse scenarios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 362(C).
    11. Zhou, Zhizuan & Zhou, Xiaodong & Ju, Xiaoyu & Li, Maoyu & Cao, Bei & Yang, Lizhong, 2023. "Experimental study of thermal runaway propagation along horizontal and vertical directions for LiFePO4 electrical energy storage modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 13-26.
    12. Zhou, Zhizuan & Li, Maoyu & Zhou, Xiaodong & Ju, Xiaoyu & Yang, Lizhong, 2023. "Investigating thermal runaway characteristics and trigger mechanism of the parallel lithium-ion battery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    13. Huang, Zonghou & Liu, Jialong & Zhai, Hongju & Wang, Qingsong, 2021. "Experimental investigation on the characteristics of thermal runaway and its propagation of large-format lithium ion batteries under overcharging and overheating conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    14. Zhang, Pengfei & Chen, Haipeng & Yang, Kangbo & Lu, Yiji & Huang, Yuqi, 2024. "Accelerated computational strategies for multi-scale thermal runaway prediction models in Li-ion battery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    15. Xu, Chengshan & Wang, Huaibin & Jiang, Fachao & Feng, Xuning & Lu, Languang & Jin, Changyong & Zhang, Fangshu & Huang, Wensheng & Zhang, Mengqi & Ouyang, Minggao, 2023. "Modelling of thermal runaway propagation in lithium-ion battery pack using reduced-order model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    16. Kong, Fanhou & Liang, Xue & Yi, Lanlin & Fang, Xiaohui & Yin, Zhongbin & Wang, Yulong & Zhang, Ruixiang & Liu, Longyang & Chen, Qing & Li, Minghan & Li, Changjiu & Jiang, Hong & Chen, Yongjun, 2021. "Multi-electron reactions for the synthesis of a vanadium-based amorphous material as lithium-ion battery cathode with high specific capacity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    17. Jong Won Shon & Donmook Choi & Hyunjae Lee & Sung-Yong Son, 2024. "Proposal and Verification of the Application of an Expert Inference Method to Present the Probability of Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Runaway Risk," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-15, May.
    18. Zhang, Wencan & Li, Xingyao & Liu, Guote & Ouyang, Nan & Yuan, Jiangfeng & Xie, Yi & Wu, Weixiong, 2024. "Optimization design of a hybrid thermal runaway propagation mitigation system for power battery module using high-dimensional surrogate models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    19. Zhou, Gang & Yang, Siqi & Liu, Yang & Zhang, Qi & Niu, Chenxi & Zhang, Shengzhu & Lu, Huaheng & Wei, Zhikai & Huang, Qi, 2024. "Research on thermal runaway characteristics and mechanism of NCM811 Lithium-ion batteries under cross-seasonal and wide-temperature condition at −10 °C ∼ 33 °C: A case study in Qingdao, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    20. Huang, Peifeng & Yao, Caixia & Mao, Binbin & Wang, Qingsong & Sun, Jinhua & Bai, Zhonghao, 2020. "The critical characteristics and transition process of lithium-ion battery thermal runaway," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:1:p:155-:d:1559063. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.