Thermal Runaway Propagation Assessment of the …...National Aeronautics and Space Administration...

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

Thermal Runaway Propagation

Assessment of the

SAFER Astronaut Jetpack Battery

Concha Reid*, Thomas Barrera#, Penni Dalton*, Amalia Aviles#, Samuel

Stuart&, and Boyd Carter%

NASA Aerospace Battery Workshop, Huntsville, AL November 17-19, 2015

*- NASA Glenn Research Center, # - The Boeing Co, & - Naval Surface Warfare Center - Crane, % - The Aerospace Corporation

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Background

• The NASA Engineering Safety Center (NESC) Electrical Power Technical

Discipline Team (TDT) has been conducting reviews of deployed batteries for

human missions consisting of lithium-ion and lithium metal cell chemistries

• Independent Review Teams (IRTs) were formed to assess the thermal runaway

propagation hazard for these batteries1

• Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity Rescue (SAFER ) battery assessment

was requested by International Space Station (ISS) managers

• The SAFER IRT was tasked to:

1. Assess the battery design risk of thermal runaway (TR) and safety/hazard controls

via analysis and test

2. Determine if design is robust enough to tolerate a catastrophic cell failure without

propagating to neighboring cells

3. Identify issues, risks, and opportunities.

4. Provide actionable technical recommendations to mitigate risk.

1. Darcy, Eric, “Thermal Runaway Severity Reduction Assessment & Implementation: On LREBA”, NASA Aerospace Battery

Workshop, November 2014.

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SAFER Battery Assessment Team

• IRT Members

– Dr. Thomas P. Barrera, Lead, The Boeing Co.

– Penni Dalton, Co-Lead, NASA-Glenn Research Center

– Dr. Boyd C. Carter, The Aerospace Corporation

– Dr. Dan Doughty, Battery Safety Consultants

– Concha Reid, NASA-Glenn Research Center

– Samuel Stuart, NSWC-Crane

• Technical Support

– Amalia Aviles, The Boeing Co.

– Ron Cook, NASA-Johnson Space Center

– Dr. Eric Darcy, NASA – Johnson Space Center

– Tamra George, NASA-Johnson Space Center

– Jason Graika, NASA-Johnson Space Center

– Dr. Judy Jeevarajan, NASA-Johnson Space Center (former consultant)

– Samuel Russell, Member, NASA-Johnson Space Center

– Yaramy Treviño/NASA-Johnson Space Center

• Sponsor

– Dr. Chris Iannello, NESC Sponsor, NASA-Kennedy Space Center 3


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SAFER Battery

• Provides power for the astronaut

jetpack to allow astronaut to safely

return to the ISS.

• Jetpack operation is for contingency

use in case astronaut becomes

untethered from the ISS.

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SAFER jetpack

Location of SAFER battery


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Battery Design

• 3.75 Ah, 40V (nominal) battery

– 14S3P arrangement

– Series strings consist of 4 and 10 cell bundles

• Duracell Ultra 123 primary LiMnO2 cell*

– COTS cell

– Spiral wound, cylindrical design

• Cell contains a vent and a resettable positive temperature coefficient

device (PTC)

• Polyswitches and diodes provide battery protection

• Battery electronics gauge board provides capacity, voltage and

temperature measurement

• Communication with avionics system

via RS 232

• 3-5 year orbital replacement unit –

battery housing refurbished with new cells

*Used on SAFER since 2013

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Approach

• Conduct credible worst-case SAFER battery safety tests to

quantify the severity of a thermal runaway condition which may

result in cell-to-cell propagation

– External short circuit testing

– Thermal runaway testing

• Tests conducted at the individual cell-level, at the 4-cell and 10-

cell bundle level, and at the battery-level

• Test cells screened and matched using flight ATP protocols

• This paper will focus on TR evaluations

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Thermal Runaway Trigger Cell Testing

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• Single cell tests in the above matrix were completed

• Additional tests performed as determined

Heater Power (W) Heater Location Temperature

15 Bottom Ambient

15 Side Ambient

10 Bottom Ambient

10 Side Ambient

20 Bottom Ambient

20 Side Ambient

25 Bottom Ambient

25 Side Ambient

15 Side 49°C

20 Side 49°C

25 Side 49°C


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Single Cell Results

• 20W heater located on the side of the cell chosen for battery level testing due

to combination of highest consistent TR onset temperature and time to TR

• Trial runs showed TR for 20W heater achieved after:

~5.7-6.5 minutes for heaters on the side of cell (ambient)

~8.5 minutes for heaters on the bottom of cell (ambient)

• TR onset temperature was not sensitive to the environment temperature

(ambient or 49°C)

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Before 20W

side heater test

After 20W

side heater test


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0

100

200

300

400

500

600

7000

0:0

0.0

00

:09

.50

0:1

8.9

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:28

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0:3

8.0

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:47

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0:5

7.1

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:06

.60

1:1

6.1

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:25

.70

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:44

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:03

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:41

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:00

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:13

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:32

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:51

.70

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:10

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6:2

0.2

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:29

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9.3

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:48

.80

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:07

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7.2

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:26

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7:3

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:45

.60

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:04

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8:1

4.1

08

:23

.50

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2.5

Tem

pe

ratu

re (

°C)

Elapsed Time (mm.ss.s)

SAFER Battery Thermal Runaway TestSingle Cell Patch Heater Trial ID175 (20W @ Ambient Temp)

Jacket Temp

Block Temp

Clamp Temp

Pos Term Temp

Air Temp

All temps steady state @ ~ 30°C

Max block temp = 41°C

Max air temp = ~ 38°C

Max cell jacket temp = ~ 684°C

Max clamp temp = ~ 178°C

Max positive terminal temp = ~ 532°C

06:34 -Thermal runaway @ 204°C cell jacket temp

03:58 -Vent with electrolyte @ 155°C cell jacket temp

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Single Cell Data for Trigger Cell with 20W Heater (located on side, ambient temp)


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20W Heater Cell-Level Thermal Runaway Test

Before

During

After

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Battery–Level TR Testing

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• Two battery-level tests are complete

• Both tests at trigger cell position #1 (corner;

4S bundle)• Test #1: 20W heater – pathfinder test

• Flight–like configuration• Electrical and mechanical replication

• No interface plate

• PTC and diode safety

devices installed

• Ambient temperature and

pressureTrigger cell position #1

Gauge Board


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Results of Test #1 – 20W Heater

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Results of Test #1 – 20W Heater (zoomed in)

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20W Heater Battery-Level Thermal Runaway Test

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Before During

After


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20W Heater Battery-Level Forensics

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• 10S bundles discharged and shorted


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20W Heater - Battery Results Summary

• Pathfinder test

• TR propagation in 4S bundles resulted from battery level test with 20W

heater in trigger cell position #1

• Adjacent cells heated up significantly prior to trigger cell going into TR

• No propagation to 10S bundle side of battery

– 10S bundles discharged and shorted, but no TR or propagation

• TR propagation results inconclusive since significant heating of

adjacent cells may have biased test results

– Occurrence of TR in these cells may have been due to a combination of

their cell temperature and propagation, rather than due only to propagation,

– This may be a legitimate failure mechanism, but is not the mechanism we

were attempting to simulate

• Test plan adjusted to consider 30W heater17


www.nasa.gov 18

0

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7000

0:0

0.0

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:00

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:00

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:49

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:11

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:21

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:32

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:43

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:54

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0.0

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:05

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:16

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:27

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:37

.90

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:48

.80

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02

:59

.70

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:10

.50

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:21

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:32

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:43

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04

:05

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04

:15

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4:2

1.2

05

:07

.20

6:0

1.2

Tem

pe

ratu

re (

°C)

Elapsed Time (mm:ss.s)

SAFER Battery Thermal Runaway TestSingle Cell Patch Heater Trial ID341 (30W @ Ambient)

Jacket Temp

Clamp Temp

Pos Term Temp

Air Temp

All temps steady state @ ~ 30°C

Max air temp = ~ 39°C

Max cell jacket temp = ~ 659°C

Max clamp temp = ~ 178°C

Max positive terminal temp = ~ 568°C

03:40 - Thermal runaway @ 164°C cell jacket temp

02:28 - Vent with electrolyte @ 122°C cell jacket temp

Single Cell Data for Trigger Cell with 30W Heater (located on side, ambient temp)


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Battery–Level TR Testing

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• Two battery-level tests complete

• Both at trigger cell position #1 (corner; 4S bundle)• Test #1: 20 W heater – pathfinder test

• Test #2: 30 W heater

• Flight–like configuration• Electrical and mechanical replication

• No interface plate

• PTC and diode safety devices installed

• Ambient temperature and pressure

Gauge Board


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Results of Test #2 – 30W Heater (zoomed in)

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30W Heater Battery-Level Thermal Runaway Test

Before

During

After23


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30W Heater - Battery-Level Forensics

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30W Heater Battery-Level Results Summary

• TR propagation in 4S bundles resulted from battery level test with 30W

heater in trigger cell position #1

• Adjacent cells again heated up prior to trigger cell TR, but to a much

lesser extent than for the 20W test

– TR achieved ~04:50 (mm:ss) faster than 20W battery test

• No TR propagation to 10S bundle side of battery

• Go to 35W heater?

• Physical/mechanical limits for heater size under investigation

• 35W may be highest feasible heater power for patch heaters for this cell.

• As needed, determine other options to obtain the desired data

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Summary

• External short circuit and thermal runaway tests were conducted to

assess risk of propagation of a catastrophic cell failure in the SAFER

jetpack battery

• Thermal runaway tests resulted in propagation to neighboring cells,

however this may have been an overtest or “false positive”

• Tests to be repeated with 35W heater to determine if a higher heater

power will eliminate biasing of neighboring cells prior to TR in the

trigger cell

• Interface plate for true flight configuration may be used to provide a

more flight-like oxygen source test environment

• Mass simulators will be used in place of 10S bundles to conserve test

assets

• Additional tests as required to be determined

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Future Work

• Determine optimum heater power

– Address heater size limitations. Conduct additional trigger cells tests on the

single cell, bundle and battery level to complete TR characterization

• Add interface plate to better replicate flight-like configuration and

determine effect of oxygen availability on TR severity

• Understand 4S bundle discharging event during TR. Significant?

• Thermal vacuum testing may be performed to reproduce worst-case

operational environments

• Heat-to-vent testing to characterize thermal signature of cell using an

accelerating rate calorimeter may be performed if additional data is

required

• Summarize findings and report

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Acknowledgements

• ESTA test area, engineers, and personnel at NASA JSC, especially

Yaramy Treviño, Jason Graika, Dr. Eric Darcy, Samuel Russell, Tamra

George, Ron Cook, and Dr. Judy Jeevarajan (formerly)

• NASA Engineering Safety Center Power TDT (led by Dr. Chris

Iannello)

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Thermal Runaway Propagation Assessment of the …...National Aeronautics and Space Administration...

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