Safe Operation and Containment of Lithium-ion Battery Technologies

Abstract

Like so many, the US Department of Defense (DoD) is investing considerable effort and money into more safely and effectively employing electrochemical energy storage, i.e. batteries, across their stationary and mobile platforms. Though batteries are employed safely in countless applications, both civilian and defense, every day, they can be dangerous if they are not properly operated, monitored, and contained. The University of Texas at Arlington#s (UTA#s) Pulsed Power and Energy Laboratory (PPEL) has been assisting ONR in the study of battery operation and monitoring for over a decade. Even though much has been learned through these efforts, and those of many others, any user must always be prepared for the worst possible case in which a maximum credible failure event occurs. Preparation is achieved by employing containment that will effectively prevent any catastrophic event from further damaging the platform on which it is being used. In the Navy#s case, preventing further propagation of damage to any other parts of the ship is critical. Because batteries come in so many different chemistries, form factors, capacities, etc. it is very difficult to design a one-size-fits-all containment solution. A possible solution is to rate containment for so many kWh of storage that varies depending on the volatility of the chemistry. It is proposed here that UTA leverage its experience testing and studying batteries of varying chemistry and form factor to better understand how to solve the containment challenge.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jan 13, 2025
Source ID
N000142512108

Entities

People

  • David A. Wetz

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • University of Texas at Arlington

Tags

Readers

  • Economics
  • Educational Psychology
  • Electrical Engineering