Study on the influence of baffle plate on the thermal runaway propagation of lithium-ion batteries during storage

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely used as energy storage system. In the system, thermal runaway of one battery cell may propagate to the surrounding batteries, forming the thermal runaway propagation (TRP). Large scale LIB ensembles are usually equipped with packaging baffles during storage or transportation. This work studied the effects of baffle plates on TRP of LIBs, which has not been revealed by previous studies. Considering that batteries may stack transversely or vertically, the experiments in this paper include two parts: horizontal baffle experiments composed of longitudinally arranged batteries and vertical baffle experiments composed of transversally arranged batteries. The experimental results show that when the distance (d) between the baffle and the safety valve decreases, the heating effect of the high-temperatures smoke on the battery module is more obvious, and the baffle has a greater influence on the TRP of the longitudinally arranged battery module. The battery module exhibits combustion behavior in horizontal and vertical unbaffled experiments, which accelerates the TRP. The baffle reduces the possibility of battery combustion, and the battery module is safest when d = 4 cm. This study can provide certain reference value for the storage and transportation of battery modules.