A tabulation method of Li-ion Thermal Runaway mechanisms for the acceleration of high dimensional simulations

• Published in: Journal of energy storage 2024-11, Vol.102, p.113982, Article 113982
• Main Authors: García, Antonio, Micó, Carlos, Marco-Gimeno, Javier, Bernal, Andrés
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Heat transfer; Lithium-ion batteries; Modeling; Safety; Solution acceleration; Thermal Runaway
• ISSN: 2352-152X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2024.113982

High-Fidelity numerical simulations of the Thermal Runaway (TR) phenomenon on lithium-ion batteries (LIB) depict stiff system of equations that need to be solved with extremely low time-steps to ensure numerical stability. In the present study, a methodology is presented to improve computational times and convergence of three-dimensional studies. A tabulation approach of the developed chemical kinetics models on the literature is presented to avoid the resolution of the set of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) that define the self-heating behavior of LIB under thermal degradation conditions. The desired tables have been obtained through 0-dimensional models for three different cathode materials (LiCoO2, NMC111 and NCA) and the TR mechanism have been replicated with the tabulation method firstly through the 0-dimensional approach and then translated to a 3-dimensional model to ensure its functionality and assess the minimum time-step needed for performing TR simulations. The results through the tabulation method replicate almost exactly the onset temperature for the three cathode chemistry both 0-dimensonally and 3-dimensionally. Additionally, a significant speed up is reported for TR propagation studies performed, allowing time-steps three orders of magnitude larger than through traditional methods while ensuring numerical stability. •Tabulating thermal runaway mechanisms is a viable alternative to solve tradition ODEs.•The proposed method is applicable to a wide variety of LIB chemistries.•The tabulation approach increases numerical stability of high-dimensional models.•The tabulation approach allows increasing the minimum time-step.•High-dimensional models employing tabulated data maintains spatial resolution.