Cell-to-Cell Thermal/Projectile Communication Mitigation during Thermal Runaway in Batteries

Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries are ubiquitous in space and military applications, generating more efficient and effective systems. The increase in Li-ion cells also represents an increase in hazardous cell failure instances. Electrical shorting, overcharging, over-discharging, and physical damage to the cells can result in thermal runaway (TR), yielding violent and explosive events that can result in mission failure and personnel injury, or worse. Furthermore, an individual cell failure can generate enough heat to trigger adjacent cells in a battery pack causing an enormous cascading failure event. In this effort, ADA plans to transition our CIMs into battery systems fielded for space and military applications such as satellites, munitions and avionics power systems needs. We have teamed with a leading battery manufacturer and power systems integrator to a few DoD (mainly AF) and NASA key program OEMs for space launch vehicles and munitions platforms. We have established expertise in preventing flame, heat and projectile propagation through our CIMs especially for Li-ion cells and in this offering, and plan to establish ISO 9001 certified manufacturing process controls to provide our CIM product to the abovementioned integrator.