主管:中华人民共和国应急管理部
主办:应急管理部天津消防研究所
ISSN 1009-0029  CN 12-1311/TU

Fire Science and Technology ›› 2025, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (9): 1233-1238.

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Research on thermal runaway characteristics and early warning methods of lead-acid batteries

Liu Bingxi1,4,5, Xie Fei2, Zhang Jin1,4, Zhuo Ping1,4,5, Ma Xiao3, Bi Xiaoyang3   

  1. (1. Tianjin Fire Science and Technology Research Institute of MEM, Tianjin 300381, China; 2. China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network Corporation, Beijing 100013; 3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China; 4. Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy and Fire Safety Joint Innovation, Ministry of Emergency Management, Beijing 102000, China; 5. Key Laboratory of Fire Protection Technology for Industry and Public Building, Ministry of Emergency Management, Tianjin 300381, China)
  • Received:2025-07-14 Revised:2025-08-20 Online:2025-09-15 Published:2025-09-15

Abstract: An experimental platform integrating constant-temperature environment simulation, charge-discharge control, and multi-parameter monitoring (temperature, voltage, gas concentration) was established. Normal charge-discharge and overcharge comparison tests were conducted under three environmental temperatures. The study found that during normal charge-discharge, the temperature change of the battery is dominated by the environmental temperature, with a slow temperature rise at low temperatures, a continuous temperature increase at high temperatures, and a stable temperature at room temperature. Under the overcharge condition, however, significant dangerous characteristics were observed: the battery temperature exceeded 100 °C in all three environmental temperatures, accompanied by the intense release of flammable gases such as hydrogen, VOCs, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, posing an explosion risk in a confined space, with the fastest temperature rise rate at 40 °C. Based on these findings, this paper proposes an intelligent thermal runaway early warning system: relying on the BMS master-slave architecture, it collects battery terminal voltage, multi-point temperatures, and hydrogen/VOCs gas concentrations in real time. The core early warning parameters include temperature thresholds, upper limits of temperature rise rate, and hydrogen concentration thresholds, and it integrates SOC/SOH algorithms to track the battery's health status. This system can respond to abnormal temperature rise and gas leakage within milliseconds, triggering protection mechanisms to prevent thermal runaway accidents.

Key words: lead-acid battery, thermal runaway, ambient temperature, early warning monitoring