Events

Characterizing the Safety of Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems

Ofodike Ezekoye
Professor, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Research on the safety of lithium-ion cells often focusses on approaches to ensure the stability and safety of a single cell. In practice, industry assumes that any single cell might fail, and efforts are directed towards mitigating the system consequences of a cell failure.  One might consider a safely designed battery system to be one that minimizes thermal propagation between cells and allows system operational integrity. Our research seeks to characterize the consequences of cell failures on modules and compartments. In this presentation I will discuss how research on characterizing single cell failure, thermal propagation in arrays, and the effects of gas generation on hazard evolution at large scales can be used in developing safer lithium-ion battery systems.

Bio

Ofodike A. Ezekoye is a professor of mechanical engineering and the Joe C. Walter Jr. Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He has served on the UT faculty since 1993 and directs the UT Fire Research Group (UTFRG).  UTFRG conducts research on heat and mass transfer in high temperature reacting systems with a goal of improving fire safety as new fire safety threats emerge.  Most recently, UTFRG has been conducting research on lithium-ion battery hazards. For lithium-ion battery failures, UTFRG characterizes single cell failures, cell-to-cell propagation, and effects of battery failures on compartment conditions.  An objective in these studies is to develop models at different levels of fidelity and scales to aid in understanding battery failure evolution. 

Refreshments provided after lecture