Lithium Ion Battery Off-Gas Monitoring for Battery Health and Safety Scott Swartz, Steve Cummings, Nick Frank, and Bill Dawson Nexceris, LLC 47 th Power Sources Conference Orlando, Florida (June 13, 2016) 1
Overview Introduction to Nexceris Problem Statement Evolution of Nexceris Battery Offgas Monitor Implementation Approaches Next Steps, Acknowledgements and Questions 2
About Nexceris Nexceris, LLC Founded in 1994 as NexTech Materials, privately held Technology Developer advanced ceramics, electrochemical devices Product Developer sensors, fuel cells, and catalysts Manufacturer/Distributor sensors, fuel cells, and related products www.nexceris.com 3
About Nexceris Commercial Products Hydrogen safety sensors and alarms SOFC materials and components SOFC interconnect coatings Our Brands Products in the Pipeline SOFC stacks Lithium ion battery off-gas monitors NO X sensors for diesel exhaust systems Aluminization coatings VOC abatement systems 4
Introduction to Nexceris Problem Statement Evolution of Nexceris Battery Offgas Monitor Implementation Approaches Next Steps, Acknowledgments and Questions 5
Problem Statement Lithium Ion Batteries Lithium-ion batteries are concentrated energy sources that can cause catastrophic events when abused In rare cases, batteries can cause catastrophic events even when not subjected to improper conditions The need for safer battery systems is not just to isolate these events when they occur, but also to predict and, ideally, avoid them altogether 6
Military Stakeholders High energy density batteries are essential for modern military systems: Navy/Marines: Direct energy weapons, auxiliary power on ships, unmanned underwater vehicles, battery storage/transport Air Force: Auxiliary power on aircraft, unmanned aerial systems Army: Soldier power systems, target acquisition systems, UAVs and UGVs 7
Current Approaches Internal to Batteries Venting to reduce battery swelling Thermal barriers between cells to reduce the likelihood of cell-to-cell propagation Thermal management (phase change materials) External to Batteries Physical protection against shock, vibration, crush, penetration and external environment Heavy-duty battery enclosures Monitoring of pressure inside battery enclosure Temperature, voltage and current monitoring Onboard fire extinguishing 8
Introduction to Nexceris Problem Statement Evolution of Nexceris Battery Offgas Monitor Implementation Approaches Next Steps, Acknowledgments and Questions 9
Development History Launch of Nexceris H 2 Sensor Product Launch of Nexceris H 2 Alarm Product Baseline Data Collected on Ship Laboratory Testing with Batteries Demonstration Testing on Ship 2010-2011 2012-2013 2014-2015 2016-2017 Phase I SBIR (NAVSEA) DOE ARPA-e Project Phase II SBIR (NAVSEA) Phase II Option (NAVSEA) TRL-3 TRL-4 TRL-5 TRL-6 10
NTM SenseH 2 Standard Device Characteristics Calibration Range 0.25 to 4% H 2 in air Response Time (t 90 ) < 5 sec Recovery Time (t 10 ) < 5 sec Humidity Range 5 to 95% RH Temperature Range -20 to 80 C Power Draw < 2 watts at 20 C Insensitive to: CO, CH 4, VOCs Robust to continuous H 2 exposure (no signal saturation) UL listed for hazardous locations Starting-point platform for lithium ion battery offgas monitor development 11
Offgas Sensor Platform Prototype Device Platform Development Transferred offgas-sensitive coatings to Nexceris production hydrogen sensor device platform Modified the control PCB and firmware based on required operating conditions 12
Battery Offgas Monitoring Enhanced safety through electrolyte offgas monitoring Low-level detection of battery electrolytes enables monitoring system to report when cells have offgassed 13
Different Response Scenarios Nexceris sensor can detect a wide range of electrolyte offgas events caused by different failure modes. 14
Thermal Abuse Testing Test Chamber Nexceris Sensor Battery Heater Gas In (Purge) Gas Out (Purge/Sample) Gas Cylinder(s) Sample Tubing (PTFE) Selector Valve Common Exhaust Sample Pump To Exhaust Vent Exhaust Pump Chamber is designed to monitor battery offgas during abusive testing Pump allows for bag samples to be collected for third party analysis 15
Thermal Abuse Testing Thermal Abuse Testing Sensor response climbs 10% prior to temperature spike by 10-20 minutes under thermal runaway test conditions. Confirmed gas species with bag sample analysis. 16
Introduction to Nexceris Problem Statement Evolution of Nexceris s Battery Offgas Monitor Implementation Approaches Next Steps, Acknowledgments and Questions 17
Nexceris Offgas Monitor Sensor modules provide measurements of offgas System integration enables mitigating action Proprietary logic in controller provides actionable signal based on gas sensors 18
Nexceris Offgas Monitor Specifications Gases to be detected Battery electrolytes (e.g., DEC, DMC, MEC) Cross-sensitivity No false positives to paint fumes, diesel fuel, HF Durability Robust to environment (shock, vibration, salt air, etc.) Lifetime > 5 years Calibration Interval > 1 year Response Time < 18 seconds Recovery Time < 1 minute Temperature 40 F to 140 F Size (fully packaged) Less than 36 cubic inches (2 x 3 x 6 ) Weight (fully packaged) < 900 grams Audible Alarm Piercing (>85 db at 1 meter) Visible Alarm Verification of operation, fault, and presence of gas 19
Nexceris Offgas Monitor Features Advantages Benefits Detects electrolyte prior to thermal runaway Can be combined with battery management system Can be tailored for contained or uncontained configuration Early warning Additional warning signal Flexible design Can actuate shutdown or fire suppression Prevent false positives Superior for many applications Can be designed to take out environmental "noise" Accurate in a range of configurations Perfect for military and ship environments 20
Utilization Scenarios Expanded Operation Pull Back from Extremes Redundancy in Shut Down Integrated with BMS Independent of BMS Automated Class D Extinguisher Redundancy Maintenance Alarms Bypassable Modules Distinguish Cell Anomaly from Catastrophic Failure 21
Example Utilization Scenario 22
Introduction to Nexceris Problem Statement Evolution of Nexceris s Battery Offgas Monitor Implementation Approaches Next Steps, Acknowledgments and Questions 23
Current Activities Military Product Development (NAVSEA Project) Fabrication of prototype offgas monitor with embedded control Field testing with batteries Military hardening and field testing on ships Assess potential for UUV and other military applications Commercial Product Development (Nexceris) Defining commercial product offerings Exploring marine applications (ports) Exploring stationary energy storage applications 24
Acknowledgements Financial Support NAVSEA Contract No. N65538-10-C-0035 NAVSEA Contract No. N00024-15-C-4002 ARPA-e Contract No. DE-AR0000276 Colleagues John Heinzel (NAVSEA) Davion Hill (DNV) Ben Gully (DNV 25