Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ala' Qatramez

Date

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Daniel Foti

Committee Member

Alexander Headley

Committee Member

Andrew Kurzawski

Committee Member

Hasan Ali

Committee Member

Yuan Gao

Abstract

This study assesses the safety hazards associated with lithium-ion battery vent gas in containerized energy storage systems, focusing on convective heat transfer caused by direct impingement during thermal runaway. Computational fluid dynamics using k-ω SST turbulence model and LIM1TR, a thermal runaway model, simulations were used to study the dynamics of vent gas jet and estimate the heat fluxes and convection heat transfer coefficients at the module's top surface. Twelve cases were investigated, varying three gap heights between cells and their module walls chosen based on estimates from a deployed system, along with four vent gas jet velocities based on predictions for failing 5, 10, 18.5, and 63 Ah pouch cells. LIM1TR results were validated against experimental data, while the k-ω SST model was verified using other published simulations results. The results show that vent gas can play a crucial role in module-to-module thermal runaway propagation by pre-heating the cells in adjacent modules. The results also show that multiple sequential failures are necessary to trigger thermal runaway in the cell exposed to the vent gas jet. This investigation recommends designing modules with relatively larger gap heights and cells with larger vent diameters to reduce the heat transferred to adjacent cells by vent gas due to impinging heat transfer. The investigation demonstrated that metal or insulating plates can be positioned between the exposed cell and the gas jet as a mitigation approach to reduce heating or potentially prevent thermal runaway in that cell. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that a significant amount of the vented thermal energy can escape the module, with the vent gas temperature still high, posing hazards outside the module, highlighting the importance of investigating thermal runaway propagation driven by vent gas at both module and rack scales. Overall, this effort highlights vent gases as a serious safety concern in storage systems, highlighting how their high temperature and impact that extends beyond the module level can compromise the safety of such systems. It also suggests possible ways to mitigate the hazards associated with impinging heating. Emphasizing the necessity for further investigations into the safety challenges and risks associated with these vented gases.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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