Mitigation of Thermal Runaway in Electrical Vehicles

Thermal runaway represents a major safety concern in lithium-ion battery systems used in electric vehicles. Mechanical abuse, electrical abuse, thermal abuse, internal or external short circuits, and overcharging can initiate excessive heat generation and lead to uncontrolled exothermic reactions. Once initiated, thermal runaway can propagate from one battery cell to neighboring cells and cause severe battery-pack damage. The presented work considers continuous temperature monitoring using a temperature sensor and microcontroller-based processing together with thermal-management strategies for mitigating these conditions. Thermal interface materials, conductive pads, cooling arrangements, and suitable battery-management techniques can be used to control battery temperature and restrict thermal propagation. Effective integration of temperature monitoring and battery thermal management can therefore contribute to safer, more reliable, and longer-lasting electric-vehicle battery systems.

[1] C. Xu, Feng et al., “Internal temperature detection of thermal runaway in lithium-ion cells tested by extended-volume accelerating rate calorimetry,” Journal of Energy Storage, vol. 31, Art. no. 101670, 2020. [2] Wu and A. García, “Numerical analysis of kinetic mechanisms for battery thermal runaway prediction in lithium-ion batteries,” International Journal of Engine Research, 2021. [3] Zhao and S. Wilke, “Preventing thermal runaway propagation in lithium ion battery packs using a phase change composite material: An experimental study,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 340, pp. 51–59, 2017. [4] Chandra, S. Zheng et al., “Investigating the thermal runaway mechanisms of lithium-ion batteries based on thermal analysis database,” Applied Energy, vol. 246, pp. 53–64, 2019. [5] Z. W. Zhong and D. Wu, “Study of cellular traffic prediction based on multi-channel sparse LSTM,” Computer Science, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 296–300, 2021. [6] Huang and B. Wang, “A detailed finite element model of internal short circuit and venting during thermal runaway in a 32650 lithium-ion battery,” Fire Technology, vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 2525–2544, 2020.