The Science of Thermal Runaway

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Overview

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Relevant NGSS Standards
  • Engineering Design
  • Energy
  • Matter and its Interactions
This topic was produced with support from

The Science of

Thermal Runaway

A ‘pathway’ is a guided investigation of Fire Forensics that bring students on a journey of discovery and education including key topics such as fire development, energy transfer, and the use of evidence and reasoning. The pathway is broken down into 4 main sections.

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1
What is thermal runaway?

Thermal runaway is the problem we’re trying to solve. In order to solve this problem, we need to understand it.

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2
How does a lithium-ion battery work?

You know that thermal runaway is a phenomenon that can affect lithium-ion batteries. In order to understand thermal runaway, it’s important to understand what a lithium-ion battery is – and how it works.

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3
Why are battery-powered devices designed to prevent physical damage?

In most instances, lithium-ion batteries function normally, charging and discharging energy without issue. Thermal runaway can occur when something alters the normal function of a battery by physically damaging it.

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4
How does overcharge relate to thermal runaway?

Damage is not the only cause of thermal runaway. Another potential cause is overcharge.

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5
How does thermal runaway spread?

A lithium-ion battery is made of multiple lithium-ion cells. Often, lithium-ion batteries are stored and transported near many other lithium-ion batteries. Because of this, it is important to know what will happen to nearby cells if one cell enters thermal runaway.  

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6
Solve the scenario

With your updated understanding of thermal runaway, it’s time to revisit the thermal runaway scene we saw at the beginning of this exploration. You might observe multiple potential causes for the thermal runaway.

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In-class Resources

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