SABIC Develops New Testing to Evaluate Safety of EV Battery Pack Materials

SABIC has designed and developed a new screening method that can be used for electric vehicle (EV) battery packs – one that employs high temperature flame with particle impingement (torch and grit).

As EV adoption continues to surge and energy storage solutions become increasingly vital, ensuring the safety of batteries is paramount. Thermal runaway, a rare but potentially hazardous event, involves a self-sustaining reaction within a battery cell that can result in overheating and, in extreme cases, fire or explosion.

To combat this, the industry continues to explore ways to reduce the risk from thermal runaway including:

• The development of safer chemistries and solid-state electrolytes
• Improved battery management systems
• The prevention of cell-to-cell propagation
• Containing and manage the high temperature and toxic gases from a thermal runaway incident to protect lives and property

As one of its contributions to this effort, SABIC has developed a patent-pending advanced torch and grit testing method – one that controls temperature, heat flux and particle impact independently to replicate the realistic conditions in a battery pack thermal runaway scenario.

This newly developed methodology helps enable the rapid testing and development of new materials that could meet the abusive conditions present during the runaway.

The combined testing involves subjecting SABIC commercial and development grades and competitive materials to mechanical impact by introducing silica particles at very high velocities along with a well-controlled flame to mimic the ablative force that a battery cell expels during thermal runaway.

Through systematic control of the torch and grit during the test and duration of the exposure with various sequences and cycles, one can study, dissect and understand materials behavior under these extremely harsh and relentless conditions. The data collected concerning duration to failure, optical and IR imagery as well as temperature and displacement measurements is critical to accurately evaluate the materials. Additionally, the data results aid in designing solutions that can be tested in full-scale battery pack thermal runaway tests.

Torch and grit testing accelerates the development of new solutions and reduces the amount of time and cost to perform full pack runaway tests.

"SABIC is committed to delivering material solutions that improve the safety of battery packs and EVs by leveraging our expertise in battery physics and chemistry, polymer manufacturing, materials science, fire science and fire-polymer science to provide innovative material solutions,” said Sreekanth Pannala, research fellow at SABIC.

“Through torch and grit testing, we can better understand how our materials behave under extreme thermal runaway conditions, ensuring that our products deliver the highest levels of safety and reliability. This capability is part of our commitment under SABIC’s BLUEHERO™ electrification initiative to offer needed solutions and service in this growing space," Pannala continued.

SABIC's torch and grit testing capabilities are part of the company's broader multidisciplinary research and development efforts focused on providing material solutions to the sustainable energy transition.

With a commitment to continuous innovation, SABIC aims to develop materials that exhibit improved thermal stability and mitigate the risks from thermal runaway in batteries used across various industries, while collaborating with automotive industry partners to develop safe and environmentally responsible energy storage technologies.