Mitigating the cascading effects of thermal runaway and fire propagation in enclosed clusters of 18,650-type lithium-ion batteries Binbin Mao, Jiahao Lu, Ying Zhang, Nian Chen, Zengyan Lai, Liang Zhu, Rongge Cheng, Jennifer X. Wen International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2025 Thermal runaway (TR) propagation is one of the most crucial failure modes for lithium-ion batteries (LIB). However, previous studies mainly focused on TR propagation (TRP) in open space while the transportation and utilization of LIBs are mostly in confined spaces, for which significant knowledge gaps exist concerning TRP and related safety issues. In this study, a series of TRP tests were conducted in an enclosed LIB cluster. For comparison, tests were also conducted with an open cluster. The acceleration of the TRP and the exponential growth of the peak heat release rate were observed in the enclosed cluster. TRP in the open space was found to be not self-sustainable with some cells escaped TR. Different safety measures were applied to mitigate TRP including various spaces between the cells, barriers, cover plate, aluminum (Al) top and lower ambient temperature. The gaps between the cells were found to delay TRP occurrence from row 1 to row 2, but ineffective for the remaining 4 rows due to the preheating effects of the particles and flame. Jumping propagation of TR over rows was observed. For the Al top design, the hole created due to Al melting by fire was found to effectively slow down the propagation speed as the hot ejections were relieved from the hole. The cover plate was found to be most effective in delaying TRP from row 1 to row 2 as it blocked hot gases reaching the cell tops. However, it accelerated TRP in the remaining 4 rows. This was thought to be due to the thermal insulation effect. When the ambient temperature was lower than 17.4 °C, TR could only propagate in the first row even if there were no gaps between the cells in the confined cluster. Based on these results, recommendations are made on mitigation measures to help ensure safety during LIB transportation and utilization.
Recent advances in combustion science related to hydrogen safety Jennifer X. Wen, Ethan S. Hecht, Remy Mevel Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 2025 Hydrogen is a key pillar in the global Net Zero strategy. Rapid scaling up of hydrogen production, transport, distribution and utilization is expected. This entails that hydrogen, which is traditionally an industrial gas, will come into proximity of populated urban areas and in some situations handled by the untrained public. To realize all their benefits, hydrogen and its technologies must be safely developed and deployed. The specific properties of hydrogen involving wide flammability range, low ignition energy and fast flame speed implies that any accidental release of hydrogen can be easily ignited. Comparing with conventional fuels, combustion systems fueled by hydrogen are also more prone to flame instability and abnormal combustion. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review about combustion research related to hydrogen safety. It starts with a brief introduction which includes some overview about risk analysis, codes and standards. The core content covers ignition, fire, explosions and deflagration to detonation transition (DDT). Considering that DDT leads to detonation, and that detonation may also be induced directly under special circumstances, the subject of detonation is also included for completeness. The review covers laboratory, medium and large-scale experiments, as well as theoretical analysis and numerical simulation results. While highlights are provided at the end of each section, the paper closes with some concluding remarks highlighting the achievements and key knowledge gaps.
Blind-prediction: Estimating the consequences of vented hydrogen deflagrations for inhomogeneous mixtures in 20-foot ISO containers Trygve Skjold, Helene Hisken, Laurence Bernard, Lorenzo Mauri, Gordon Atanga, Sunil Lakshmipathy, Melodia Lucas, Marco Carcassi, Martino Schiavetti, Vendra Chandra Madhav Rao, Anubhav Sinha, Jennifer X. Wen, Ilias C. Tolias, Stella G. Giannissi, Alexandros G. Venetsanos, James R. Stewart, Olav Roald Hansen, Chenthil Kumar, Laurent Krumenacker, Florian Laviron, Romain Jambut, Asmund Huser Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2019
Experimental study on hydrogen/air premixed flame propagation in closed rectangular channels 12th Asia Pacific Conference on Combustion Aspacc 2019, 2019
Modelling liquid fuel cascades with OpenFOAM 49th Annual Loss Prevention Symposium 2015 Lps 2015 Topical Conference at the 2015 Aiche Spring Meeting and 11th Global Congress on Process Safety, 2015
Investigation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) dispersion using Computational Fluid Dynamics 11th World Congress on Computational Mechanics Wccm 2014 5th European Conference on Computational Mechanics Eccm 2014 and 6th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics Ecfd 2014, 2014
A droplet collision model based on the concept of particle cloud Neiranji Xuebao Transactions of CSICE Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines, 2014
Towards understanding the Buncefield explosion through advanced numerical analysis and experimental investigations Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series, 2011
WCE 2010 - World Congress on Engineering 2010: Preface Wce 2010 World Congress on Engineering 2010, 2010
WCE 2010 - World Congress on Engineering 2010: Preface Wce 2010 World Congress on Engineering 2010, 2010
FE modelling of the effect of elevated temperatures on the anchoring of CFRP laminates Excellence in Concrete Construction Through Innovation Proceedings of the International Conference on Concrete Construction, 2009
Numerical study of large scale hydrogen explosions and detonation Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series, 2009
Towards large eddy simulation of LNG pool fires Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series, 2009
Simplified flammable gas volume methods for gas explosion modelling from pressurized gas releases: A comparison with large scale experimental data Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series, 2008
Development and validation of a predictive tool for offshore compartment fires Proceedings of the International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering OMAE, 1998
CFD modelling of heat transfer in condensing heat exchangers International Journal of Heat and Technology, 1997
Numerical simulation of smoke threat in escape corridors of offshore accommodation modules American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fluids Engineering Division Publication FED, 1996
Prediction of thermal radiation from pool fires on offshore topside structures using field models International Symposium on Heat Transfer, 1996
Numerical study of a condensing boiler heat exchanger International Symposium on Heat Transfer, 1996
Numerical modelling of buoyancy-driven natural convection induced by fire in a compartment International Symposium on Heat Transfer, 1996
Accurate measurements of heat-transfer coefficients for condensation on horizontal integral-fin tubes American Society of Mechanical Engineers Paper, 1991
