How Calorimetry Can Help in Battery Research

With increasing energy density the safety and the thermal management of Li-ion batteries is becoming more and more important, because the thermal runaway can cause an ignition or even explosion of the battery with simultaneous release of toxic gases. In the last ten years, we have established battery calorimetry as a versatile characterization technique, which allows advancements for the thermal management and the safety of batteries. With six adiabatic Accelerating Rate Calorimeters of different sizes and two sensitive Tian-Calvet calorimeters combined with cyclers we operate Europe’s largest battery calorimeter center, which enables the evaluation of thermodynamic, thermal and safety data on material, cell and pack level under quasiadiabatic and isoperibolic environments for both normal and abuse conditions (thermal, electrical, mechanical). Calorimetry allows the collection of quantitative data required for optimum battery performance and safety. This information is applied to define the requirements for thermal management. It will be explained how calorimeters can be used for studies on heat generation and dissipation of Li-ion cells. It will be shown that by measuring the specific heat capacity and the heat transfer coefficient the measured temperature data during cycling can be converted into generated and dissipated heat data, which are needed for the adjustment of the thermal management systems. It will be presented how battery calorimeters allow to perform safety tests on cell and pack level by applying thermal, mechanical or electrical abuse conditions. For the advanced Li-ion technology, a holistic safety assessment is in the focus, because the thermal runaway can have multiple interacting causes and effects. A test in the calorimeter reveals the entire process of the thermal runaway with the different stages of exothermic reactions. As a result of the different tests quantitative and system relevant data for temperature, heat and pressure development of materials and cells are provided. In addition it will be explained how calorimeters allow studying the thermal runaway propagation in order to develop and qualify suitable countermeasures, such as heat protection barriers, which is currently becoming a very hot topic.