Two of our very own, John C. Copeland, Co-Founder, and Russ Gyenes, Principal Engineer, recently wrote an article for In Compliance Magazine focused on lithium battery safety performance and how to assess and mitigate safety situations.
The article also expands on thermal runaway risks and the importance of failure analysis. What do we understand about the risks if a battery goes into thermal runaway when in use or even during transportation? Even with every safety measure taken in the design and testing of cells and batteries, failures may still occur. Failures can range in severity and so responses and actions taken afterward vary accordingly. Failure analysis provides the knowledge organizations need to make decisions that will impact future risk. To properly investigate a failure, third-party labs are often brought in because they have the expertise and equipment and/or they're used as an independent verification system for a company's internal team.
There are various ways to minimize risks associated with modern lithium-ion cells and battery packs. Proper design and thorough testing are vital to battery safety but if the battery goes into failure or reaches thermal runaway, be sure you understand the effects and your options for failure analysis.
Read the complete article Batteries Gone Wrong – Assessment, Mitigation, and Expectations here.
