We have written about lithium-ion battery fires in electric automobiles and phones. We have also described their effects in hover boards and e-cigarettes. While we may have watched laboratory experiments in videos with excitement, the possibility of thermal runaway happening in space eluded us. Thanks to NASA, we now have a better idea of their plans for preventing lithium battery fires in satellites.
NASA’s Plan For Avoiding Lithium Battery Fires in Space
We never cease to admire the courage of our astronauts as they venture into space with an eye beyond the planets. For their trips, NASA adopted lithium-ion batteries ahead of the pack, because of their compact nature and long life expectancy. But there is a downside.
“We did so,” says Dr Christopher Iannello, NASA Technical Fellow for Electrical Power, “because of several advantages. They have a much better energy density, often more than two times greater than other battery chemistries.
“So their run time is much longer but there is a flip side.” This flip side is that they are volatile and flammable when thermally unstable and we definitely don’t want lithium battery fires in space.
The space agency concluded a battery containment would be too heavy. Moreover, cell separation would make the battery too large. They decided their solution lay in “how the cells were packaged, how vented battery effluents were managed, and how the cells were interconnected electrically.”
NASA has not has yet experienced any lithium battery fires in space. However, it knows that thermal runaway is unavoidable unless it takes precautions. Its strategy includes managing emissions, and avoiding heat transfer between groups of cells. Moreover, it has introduced fusible links between individual cells, since isolating terminals is part of the solution.
It is also considering containment bags that resist flames. We are happy our brave astronauts are in such competent hands.. We admire them for what they contribute to the search for extra-terrestrial life.
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Preview Image: Lithium-Ion Cell Interconnection
