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Safety Device for Joining Battery Cell and Module

Challenge

By the year 2030, the demand for electric vehicles will have increased by 16 times more than today. This leads to a need for a fast, efficient and safe production of batteries.

An effective welding technique for connecting battery cells is laser beam welding. This process is very common for high volume applications, is characterised by a high process velocity, reproducibility and reduced heat input. The temperature gets very high within the welding zone, which leads to an increased risk of fire. The amount of security concepts is low and insufficient, even though there is a huge demand.

The use of highly concentrated energy with active battery cells leads to a risk of a thermal runaway. A burning battery cell immediately releases toxic and dangerous gases, so that there is not much time to react. It can also lead to a chain reaction (thermal runaway) which sets the whole battery module on fire and can spread to the unit.

Solution

The battery safety device is a fire-extinguishing device that provides the solution to this problem. It protects the nearby fixture components against fire, cools down the battery module, and prevents a further chain reaction. The construction contains two tanks, one is filled with 800 litres of water and the other contains the laser welding station. In the case of an emergency, the latter is filled with water within seconds. The system is activated by the station user at the push of a button from a safe distance.

Advantages

  • Cooling down of the burning battery cells in seconds
  • Toxic substances are washed and thinned down by flushing them with water
  • Fast prevention of oxygen access
  • High personal protection because of the security distance
  • Simple removability of the damaged battery module

Status

  • Patent applications at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and the WIPO
  • Proof of concept with dummy battery AND ongoing research with active/burn batteries AND prototype already built

RWTH Aachen University is looking for partners for patent exploitation AND for research partners for joint development AND contract research.

RWTH Technology #2329
Fields of application Battery production
Keywords #Battery #Securtiy #E-Mobility #Automationprocess #batteryprototyping #cellcontacting

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