Energy storage grid explosion period

Here, experimental and numerical studies on the gas explosion hazards of container type lithium-ion battery energy storage station are carried out. In the experiment, the LiFePO4 battery module of 8.8kWh was overcharged to thermal runaway in a real energy storage container, and the combustible gases were ignited to trigger an explosion.

Incidents of battery storage facility fires and explosions are reported every year since 2018, resulting in human injuries, and millions of US dollars in loss of asset and operation.

Variation process of combustion rate in energy storage container during explosion. Due to the numerous battery modules installed in the container, the flame was limited in the middle aisle and on the top of the container. Fig. 7 a showed the combustion rate distribution at 0.24 second.

For grid-scale and residential applications of ESS, explosion hazards are a significant concern due to the propensity of lithium-ion batteries to undergo thermal runaway, which causes a release of flammable gases composed of hydrogen, hydrocarbons (e.g. methane, ethylene, etc.), carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide.

Note that the Stationary Energy Storage Failure Incidents table tracks both utility-scale and C&I system failures. It is instructive to compare the number of failure incidents over time against the deployment of BESS. The graph to the right looks at the failure rate per cumulative deployed capacity, up to 12/31/2024.

Considering that gas explosion may cause thermal runaway of battery module in the actual scene, the existence of high-temperature zone may be longer and the temperature peak may be higher. After the combustible gas got on fire, the gases volume expanded by high-temperature compresses the volume of the surrounding gases.