New developments in battery safety for large-scale systems

Battery safety is a multidisciplinary field that involves addressing challenges at the individual component level, cell level, as well as the system level. These concerns are magnified when addressing large, high-energy battery systems for grid-scale, electric vehicle, and aviation applications. This article seeks to introduce common concepts in battery safety as well as common technical concerns in the safety of large rechargeable systems. Lithium-ion batteries represent the most significant technology in high-energy rechargeable batteries and a technology with well-known safety concerns. Because of this, particular attention is paid to introduce common concepts and concerns specific to these batteries. An introduction of system-level battery issues that may cause problems in larger systems is given. Finally, a brief summary of the gaps in emergent technologies is provided. As most of the effort in new technologies goes toward improving performance, there are significant gaps in understanding safety performance of these new batteries.