Open Access

Lithium-based batteries have the potential to undergo thermal runaway (TR), during which mixtures of gases are released. The purpose of this study was to assess the explosibility of the gaseous emission from LIBs of an NMC-based cathode during thermal runaway. In the current project, a series of pouch lithium-based battery cells was exposed to abuse conditions (thermal) to study the total amount of gases released and the composition of the gas mixture. First, the battery cells were placed in a closed vessel, and the pressure and temperature rise inside the vessel were measured. In a second step, the composition of gases was analysed using a Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. We found that the amount of released gases was up to 102 ± 4 L, with a clear dependence on the battery capacity. This study showed that the concentration of gaseous emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4), ethane (C2H6), and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) increased with higher cell capacity. Of the five studied flammable gases, the maximum concentrations of carbon monoxide (16.85 vol%), methane (7.6 vol%), and ethylene (7.86 vol%) were identified to be within their explosible range. Applying Le Chatelier’s law, a calculated lower explosion limit (LEL) of 7% in volume fraction was obtained for the gas mixture. The upper explosion limit (UEL) of the gas mixture was also found to be 31% in volume. A filter comprising pyrobubbles was used for the removal of the studied gas components released during the thermal abuse. The investigation revealed that the pyrobubbles filter was highly effect in the removal of HCN (up to 94% removal) and CO2 (up to 100% removal). Herein, we report the dependency of the method of thermal runaway trigger on the measured maximum temperature.

Many industrial processes are run at non-atmospheric conditions (elevated temperatures and pressures, other oxidizers than air). To judge whether and if yes to what extent explosive gas(vapour)/air mixtures will occur or may be generated during malfunction it is necessary to know the safety characteristic data at the respective conditions. Safety characteristic data like explosion limits, are depending on pressure, temperature and the oxidizer. Most of the determination methods are standardized for ambient conditions. In order to obtäin determination methods for non-atmospheric conditions, particularly for higher initial pressures, reliable ignition criteria were investigated. Ignition tests at the explosion limits were carried out for mixtures of methane, propane, H-butane, w-hexane, hydrogen, ammonia and acetone in air at initial pressures up to 20 bar. The tests have been evaluated according to different ignition criteria: visual flame propagation, temperature and pressure rising. It could be shown that flame propagation and occasionally self-sustained combustion for several seconds occurred together with remarkable temperature rise, although the pressure rise was below 3 %. The results showed that the combination of a pressure rise criterion of 2 % and a temperature rise criterion of 100 K seems to be a suitable ignition criterion for the determination of explosion limits and limiting oxidizer concentration at higher initial pressures and elevated temperatures. The tests were carried out within the framework of a R&D project founded by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Sicherheitstechnischen Kenngrößen stellen die Grundlage für die Bewertung von Explosionsrisiken in der chemischen Industrie dar, sowie für die Klassifizierung von gefährlichen Stoffen und Gütern. Sicherheitstechnische Kenngrößen sind, wie Stoff konstanten (z. B. Dichte, Siedepunkt) abhängig von Druck und Temperatur. Im Gegensatz zu Stoffkonstanten sind sicherheitstechnische Kenngrößen jedoch in unterschiedlichem Maße vom Bestimmungsverfahren abhängig. Einfluss können sowohl die Prüfapparatur (z. B. Zündgefäß, Zündquelle) als auch das Bestimmungsverfahren (vor allem das Kriterium) haben. Für die Anwendung im Explosionsschutz ist es erforderlich einheitliche und zuverlässige Werte für die Kenngrößen zu erhalten. Daher sind die Bestimmungsverfahren für Explosionskenngrößen in den meisten Fällen genormt. Sie sind in der Regel dem Geltungsbereich der europäischen Richtlinien 94/9/EG und 1999/92/EG zugeordnet. Wegen des Anwendungsbereiches der Richtlinien gelten bislang die meisten dieser genormten Bestimmungsverfahren (z. B. Explosionsgrenzen (EN 1839), Zündtemperatur (EN 14522)) nur für atmosphärische Bedingungen. Jedoch werden in der chemischen Industrie viele Prozesse mit anderen Oxidationsmitteln als Luft (z. B. reiner Sauerstoff, Distickstoffmonoxid) sowie bei höheren Drücken und Temperaturen durchgeführt.

The environmental impact assessment of materials is usually based on laboratory tests, mostly in combination with models describing the longterm fate of the substances of interest in the targeted environmental compartment. Thus, laboratory tests are the fundamental link to achieve appropriate assessment conclusions which makes it essential to generate consistent results. This just as applies to the leaching of cementitious materials. In Europe, the leaching behavior of monolithic building materials is tested in the Dynamic Surface Leaching Test following the specification CEN/TS 16637–2. An interlaboratory comparison on European level regarding this technical specification showed relatively high intra- and interlaboratory variations for the tested materials (monolithic copper slag and cement stabilized coal fly ash). Therefore the German Committee for Structural Concrete (DAfStb) framed a guideline to specify additional testing conditions for cementitious materials. To assess the possible improvement by this guidelines measures, a round robin test with 11 participants from Germany and the Netherlands was conducted. This work aims to provide insight into the factors to be considered in the testing of alkaline materials, including sample preparation, and highlights crucial procedures and their manifestation in the results. All evaluated parameters showed improved results compared to the earlier round robin test. The relative standard deviations for repeatability (RSDr) and reproducibility (RSDR) of the elements calcium, barium, antimony, chromium, molybdenum and vanadium, which are the parameters evaluated in both round robin tests, were RSDr = 4%, 4%, 2%, 5%, 5%, and 5% respectively (4% in average) for this work, in comparison to the European round robin test with an average RSDr of 29% (17%, 17%, 20%, 40%, 36%, and 42%). The RSDR improved from 41% (30%, 36%, 29%, 57%, 40%, and 56%) to 14% (12%, 8%, 6%, 28%, 15%, and 12%). CO2 ingress during testing and the inaccuracy of eluate analytics for concentrations close to the determination limits were identified as the main sources of error.