Heat transfer enhanced inorganic phase change material compositing carbon nanotubes for battery thermal management and thermal runaway propagation mitigation

Developing technologies that can be applied simultaneously in battery thermal management(BTM)and thermal runaway(TR)mitigation is significant to improving the safety of lithium-ion battery systems.Inorganic phase change material(PCM)with nonflammability has the potential to achieve this dual function.This study proposed an encapsulated inorganic phase change material(EPCM)with a heat transfer enhancement for battery systems,where Na_(2)HPO_(4)·12H_(2)O was used as the core PCM encapsulated by silica and the additive of carbon nanotube(CNT)was applied to enhance the thermal conductivity.The microstructure and thermal properties of the EPCM/CNT were analyzed by a series of characterization tests.Two different incorporating methods of CNT were compared and the proper CNT adding amount was also studied.After preparation,the battery thermal management performance and TR propagation mitigation effects of EPCM/CNT were further investigated on the battery modules.The experimental results of thermal management tests showed that EPCM/CNT not only slowed down the temperature rising of the module but also improved the temperature uniformity during normal operation.The peak battery temperature decreased from 76℃to 61.2℃at 2 C discharge rate and the temperature difference was controlled below 3℃.Moreover,the results of TR propagation tests demonstrated that nonflammable EPCM/CNT with good heat absorption could work as a TR barrier,which exhibited effective mitigation on TR and TR propagation.The trigger time of three cells was successfully delayed by 129,474 and 551 s,respectively and the propagation intervals were greatly extended as well.

Mechanism of internal thermal runaway propagation in blade batteries

Blade batteries are extensively used in electric vehicles,but unavoidable thermal runaway is an inherent threat to their safe use.This study experimentally investigated the mechanism underlying thermal runaway propagation within a blade battery by using a nail to trigger thermal runaway and thermocouples to track its propagation inside a cell.The results showed that the internal thermal runaway could propagate for up to 272 s,which is comparable to that of a traditional battery module.The velocity of the thermal runaway propagation fluctuated between 1 and 8 mm s^(-1),depending on both the electrolyte content and high-temperature gas diffusion.In the early stages of thermal runaway,the electrolyte participated in the reaction,which intensified the thermal runaway and accelerated its propagation.As the battery temperature increased,the electrolyte evaporated,which attenuated the acceleration effect.Gas diffusion affected thermal runaway propagation through both heat transfer and mass transfer.The experimental results indicated that gas diffusion accelerated the velocity of thermal runaway propagation by 36.84%.We used a 1D mathematical model and confirmed that convective heat transfer induced by gas diffusion increased the velocity of thermal runaway propagation by 5.46%-17.06%.Finally,the temperature rate curve was analyzed,and a three-stage mechanism for internal thermal runaway propagation was proposed.In Stage I,convective heat transfer from electrolyte evaporation locally increased the temperature to 100℃.In Stage II,solid heat transfer locally increases the temperature to trigger thermal runaway.In StageⅢ,thermal runaway sharply increases the local temperature.The proposed mechanism sheds light on the internal thermal runaway propagation of blade batteries and offers valuable insights into safety considerations for future design.

The nonlinear response of Cattaneo-type thermal loading of a laser pulse on a medium using the generalized thermoelastic model

The nonlinear thermoelastic responses of an elastic medium exposed to laser generated shortpulse heating are investigated in this article. The thermal wave propagation of generalized thermoelastic medium under the impact of thermal loading with energy dissipation is the focus of this research. To model the thermal boundary condition(in the form of thermal conduction),generalized Cattaneo model(GCM) is employed. In the reference configuration, a nonlinear coupled Lord-Shulman-type generalized thermoelasticity formulation using finite strain theory(FST) is developed and the temperature dependency of the thermal conductivity is considered to derive the equations. In order to solve the time-dependent and nonlinear equations, Newmark’s numerical time integration technique and an updated finite element algorithm is applied and to ensure achieving accurate continuity of the results, the Hermitian elements are used instead of Lagrangian’s. The numerical responses for different factors such as input heat flux and nonlinear terms are expressed graphically and their impacts on the system’s reaction are discussed in detail.The results of the study are presented for Green–Lindsay model and the findings are compared with Lord-Shulman model especially with regards to heat wave propagation. It is shown that the nature of the laser’s thermal shock and its geometry are particularly determinative in the final stage of deformation. The research also concluded that employing FST leads to achieving more accuracy in terms of elastic deformations;however, the thermally nonlinear analysis does not change the results markedly. For this reason, the nonlinear theory of deformation is required in laser related reviews, while it is reasonable to ignore the temperature changes compared to the reference temperature in deriving governing equations.

Molecular dynamics study of thermal stress and heat propagation in tungsten under thermal shock

Using molecular dynamics （MD） simulation, we study the thermal shock behavior of tungsten （W）, which has been used for the plasma facing material （PFM） of tokamaks. The thermo-elastic stress wave, corresponding to the collective displacement of atoms, is analyzed with the Lagrangian atomic stress method, of which the reliability is also analyzed. The stress wave velocity corresponds to the speed of sound in the material, which is not dependent on the thermal shock energy. The peak pressure of a normal stress wave increases with the increase of thermal shock energy. We analyze the temperature evolution of the thermal shock region according to the Fourier transformation. It can be seen that the “obvious” velocity of heat propagation is less than the velocity of the stress wave; further, that the thermo-elastic stress wave may contribute little to the transport of kinetic energy. The heat propagation can be described properly by the heat conduction equation. These results may be useful for understanding the process of the thermal shock of tungsten.

Sandwich structured ultra-strong-heat-shielding aerogel/copper composite insulation board for safe lithium-ion batteries modules

The fire hazard of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)modules is extremely serious due to their high capacity.Moreover,once a battery catches fire,it can easily result in a fire of the entire LIBs modules.In this work,a sandwich structure composite thermal insulation(STI)board(copper//silica dioxide aerogel//copper)with the advantages of low thermal conductivity(0.031 W m-1K-1),low surface radiation emissivity(0.1)and good thermal convection inhibition effect has been designed.The thermal runaway(TR)occurrence time of adjacent LIBs increases from 1384 s to more than 6 h+due to the protection of STI board.No TR propagation occurs within LIBs modules with protect of a STI board when a battery catches fire.The ultra-strong-heat-shielding mechanism of STI board has been revealed.The TR propagation of LIBs modules has been insulated effectively by STI board through reducing the heat transfer of convection,conduction and radiation.The air flow rate between the heater and LIBs and radiant heat absorbed by LIBs decrease by 63.5%and 35.1%with protection of STI board,respectively.A high temperature difference inside the STI board is also formed.This work provides direction for the designing of safe thermal insulation board for LIBs modules.