Lattice Energy LLC- Field Failures and LENRs in Lithium-based Batteries-Jan 23 2013

LENRs and field failure runaway fires in advanced batteries LENRs are potentially another mechanism for producing so-called field failures that can trigger catastrophic thermal runaway fires in Lithium-based batteries Lewis Larsen President and CEO Lattice Energy LLC Chicago, IL USA 1-312-861-0115 lewisglarsen@gmail.comPlease see the following technical documents:1. “Batteries for Sustainability – Selected Entries from the Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Science andTechnology”Ralph J. Brodd, EditorSpringer ISBN 978-1-4614-5791-6 (eBook)Chapter 9 by B. Barnett et al., “Lithium-ion Batteries, Safety” [25 pages of annotated quotes attached]Book version print length: total is 519 pagesPublisher: Springer New York; 1 edition (December 11, 2012)Preview is available at source URL:http://www.amazon.com/Batteries-for-Sustainability-ebook/dp/B00APXDLXACan also be purchased for US$143.50 through Amazon as a Kindle Edition at source URL:http://www.amazon.com/Batteries-for-Sustainability-ebook/dp/B00APXDLXA2. LENRs in Lithium-ion batteries [68 slides]Lewis Larsen, Lattice Energy LLCJuly 16, 2010Source URL: http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/cfakepathlattice-energy-llc-len-rs-in-liion-battery-firesjuly-16-20103. Evanescent localized superconductivity in LENR ‘patches’ [92 slides]Lewis Larsen, Lattice Energy LLCAugust 23, 2012Source URL: http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-llc-hightemperature-superconductivity-in-patchesaug-23-20124. Index to concepts and documents about Widom-Larsen theory, LENRs, and Lattice Energy [63 slides]Lewis Larsen, Lattice Energy LLCNovember 21, 2012Source URL: http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-llcindex-to-documents-re-widomlarsen-theory-of-lenrsnov-21-2012LENRs might be triggers for field failures/thermal runaway events in some Lithium battery fires:There is a heretofore little appreciated subset of Lithium-based battery problems cryptically called a “fieldfailure” mode that, while much rarer than ‘plain vanilla’ safety issues such as punctures and other typesmechanical damage, seem to be highly correlated with catastrophic thermal runaway events. Accordingto a major Lithium-ion battery manufacturer in a private communication, field failures apparently occuralmost randomly in roughly 1 out of every 4 to 5 million Lithium-based battery cells right off the productionline, regardless of their chemistry.Lattice Energy LLC Copyright 2013 All rights reserved

LENRs and field failure runaway fires in advanced batteriesThis somewhat obscure field failure problem involves catastrophic thermal failure of a single battery cell.While it is often thought to be associated with internal shorts and electrical arcing within a somehowdefective cell, some battery manufacturers will admit privately that this peculiar failure mode is not well-characterized and very poorly understood --- most of them are presently at a loss for ideas about exactlyhow to definitively mitigate such a problem. It is well known that if just a single cell in a large, multi-cellbattery pack fails in this particular manner, it can potentially trigger an even more catastrophic large-scalethermal runaway event that rapidly propagates through an entire battery pack, destroying adjacent cellsvia thermal fratricide as well as possibly the entire interior of, for example, an all-electric motor vehicle.This additional new source of concern about the safety of advanced Lithium-based batteries has arisenbecause, in the course of our company’s ongoing R&D efforts, Lattice has applied the Widom-Larsentheory of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENRs) on a practical level to try to help better understand thepossible role of nanoscale metal dendrites and nanoparticles in certain types of failure modes that mayoccur in smaller Lithium-based batteries as well as in extremely large, multi-thousand-cell battery packsutilized in all-electric vehicles and some military applications.In May 2010, academic researchers at Oxford University published a new and we think important paperthat many believe implicates the involvement of Lithium metal dendrites in a significant number of Li-ionbattery failures (please see R. Bhattacharyya et al., "In situ NMR observation of the formation of metallicLithium microstructures in lithium batteries," Nature Materials 9 pp. 504 - 510). What is of great concernfrom a safety standpoint is that nanoscale internal metal dendrites that are prone to shorting-out can growspontaneously over time as a given battery ages and goes through many charge-discharge cycles.A battery pack may well be perfectly safe during the first months of ordinary use; however, dendrites andother types of nanoparticulate structures grow inside over time, increasing the probability of dangerousinternal electrical shorts as the battery ‘ages’. The problem is that nobody in the world has any realworking experience with large multi-cell Lithium-based battery backs that have endured hard usage andvibration for periods of many years. Also, nanoscale internal metallic dendrites can potentially form andgrow in almost any type of Lithium-based battery chemistry.Approaching battery safety from perhaps a different technical perspective than many scientists, we havebecome increasingly concerned that some present/future Lithium-based battery chemistries couldpotentially be susceptible to rare, but potentially very damaging occurrences of LENRs in isolatednanometer to micron-scale regions within some failing battery cells. Cell field failures arising fromnanoscale internal shorts/arcs are thus very worrisome with regard to potentially triggering LENRs thatcan in turn readily initiate macroscopic, catastrophic thermal runaways.Please see the hyperlinked Lattice presentation dated July 16, 2010: field failures are exactly the type ofnanoscale event that Lattice believes could potentially lead to the creation of tiny, internal micron-scaleLENR ‘fireballs’ that could in principle initiate large-scale macroscopic, very hot-burning metal oxidationreactions that are very capable of generating their own free oxygen inside battery casings (as describedin the presentation).Nonpublic experiments have been conducted by a large company involving custom-built Li-ion batterypacks comprising 50-60 commodity 18650 Li-ion cells with a standard chemistry; the wiringinterconnection architecture was ~ the same as a typical EV battery pack. According to a privatecommunication, results from deliberately induced, catastrophic Li-ion battery field failures were eye-opening: anomalously high temperatures in excess of 3,000 degrees were measured and recorded beforethermocouples in failing battery packs were obliterated by intense heat. A detailed explanation of exactlyhow such anomalously high temperatures were achieved under such conditions is still under activeinvestigation by the company’s scientists.What is somewhat worrisome about new types of Lithium Titanate battery chemistries in a field failuremode is that Titanium metal burns at a much hotter temperature than Lithium --- at ~3,400 degrees C. So,for example, an all-electric EV cruising down a highway could potentially encounter a 3,400 degreeinternal Lithium and Titanium metal fire with a fast-spreading flame front that generates its own oxygen asLattice Energy LLC Copyright 2013 All rights reserved

LENRs and field failure runaway fires in advanced batteriesit combusts materials located inside a vehicle’s failing battery pack. This could create a dangerous firethat might be difficult or impossible to extinguish. Even new types of inert Argon-foam fire suppressionsystems such as those retrofitted in some cargo aircraft are likely to be incapable of stopping aconflagration this hot that also creates its own source of oxygen as it aggressively heats battery materials.If a large aircraft in flight were to experience a hypothetical good-sized Li-Ti EV-class LENR-triggeredbattery fire, absent a robust thermal containment system it would seem that the plane’s structural integritycould potentially be compromised because (ignoring the effects of a pressure-pulse if a large batterypack’s casing actually detonates) a large heterogeneous blob of molten material at 3,400 degrees iscertainly hot enough to melt all the way down through the aluminum or composite fuselage of an aircraft... a disturbing possibility.A for-now nameless engineering firm with a large battery consultancy believes that about midway throughsuch a super-hot fire in a very large EV-class battery pack, enough excess combustible gases couldpotentially accumulate inside the casing just ahead of a advancing flame front to enable a powerfuldetonation that completes the process of battery destruction --- i.e., a large chemical explosion combinedwith white-hot shrapnel that can ignite other nearby combustibles.Interestingly, as speculatively discussed in the hyperlinked Lattice presentation dated August 23, 2012,evanescent ‘flickering’ superconductivity may occur in micron-scale patches just before they go LENR-active and make neutrons. If in fact this behavior occurred inside a battery, nearby nanostructures holdingcharge might well be trying to locally ‘dump’ current into a superconducting patch, further exacerbatingthe field failure problem. Also, per the Widom-Larsen theory of LENRs some fraction of the electronslocated in such a patch would get converted into neutrons via an electroweak reaction (e + p  n) whichlocally destroys charge, thus possibly causing more nearby charge to rush-in and fill the ‘gap.’Please now refer to the attached annotated excerpts from the book chapter by Barnett et al.: they havewritten an excellent, very informative document that discusses safety issues in the context of field failuremodes in Lithium-based batteries. In my opinion, it is a must-read for people interested in battery safetyand well-worth the purchase price of $143.50 for Springer’s full Kindle eBook version.I have taken the liberty to annotate Barnett et al.’s book chapter so that readers can easily connect blocksof text to LENR-related ideas found in this cover preface as well as in the other mentioned Latticepresentations found on SlideShare. You will find that their thinking resonates strongly with ours and thatLENRs appear to be a plausible trigger for some indeterminate subset of field failure events. These can inturn potentially lead to catastrophic thermal runaway processes that presently pose a major safety risk inadvanced batteries with high energy densities.As long as it does not involve any disclosure of Lattice-proprietary technical information that we deemrelevant to energy production applications, Lattice is interested and prepared to engage in fee-basedconsulting with other companies in regard to assessing safety issues involving LENRs in connection withfield failures, battery fires, and thermal runaways.Technical questions and inquiries are welcome.Thank you.Lew LarsenJanuary 23, 2013Lattice Energy LLC Copyright 2013 All rights reserved

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Following are annotated (by me) quoted text that was extracted from Barnett et al.spublication; readers are strongly urged to purchase the e-book version to obtain fulldetails about their excellent work on field failures in Lithium-based batteries.Lewis LarsenJanuary 23, 2013 01/23/2013 1 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013) So-called "field failures" are a key topic of discussion in this well-written, extremely informative book chapter by Barnett et al. This material is a must-read for those interested in better understanding safety issues with regard to Lithium-based batteries.01/23/2013 2 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Defines the term"field failure." 01/23/2013 3 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Energetics of"field failure"events can beimpressive inworst-casethermal scenarios 01/23/2013 4 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Low EnergyNuclearReactions(LENRs) canpotentially bean additional,potentnanoscalecausativemechanism fortriggering "fieldfailures" inbatteries undercertain specificconditions,regardless oftheir chemistry. Note: LENRs are NOT necessarily a "manufacturing defect" per se; physical conditions favorable to triggering LENRs can slowly grow on tiny nanostructures (one type of such structures is dendrites, but it is not the only one) in various regions within batteries as they gradually age and go through many charge-discharge cycles. 01/23/2013 5 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013) Very important points are made here in these bullets. Esp. see underlined text. In some, but certainly not all instances of battery field failures, LENRs could provide a plausible nanoscale mechanism that could enable a random, microscopic internal electrical short to very rapidly turn into a catastrophic, macroscopic chemical thermal runaway event.What the authorsare saying here isthat theres nosuch thing as a arisk-free advancedLithium-basedbattery --- it simplydoesnt exist andfurthermore isprobably anunattainable,impossiblemanufacturinggoal. 01/23/2013 6 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Au contraire, incertain casesthe underlyingmechanism forfield failuresmight very wellbe LENRs,although thatmay be difficultto proveunequivocally.Much moreexperimentationon this point iscrucial andsorely needed.Note importanceof dendrites. 01/23/2013 7 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Exact location ofelectrical short(spark) in abattery cell is veryimportant as towhether the eventultimately turns-into a thermalrunaway or not.Lattice stronglyagrees with this.Please note thatNickel happens tobe a substratethat is alsoutilized in someLENRexperiments thatcan producesubstantialamounts ofexcess heat. 01/23/2013 8 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Nanoscaleregions proneto shorts cangrow overtime and mayoften NOT bepresent justafter a givenbattery wasmanufactured. 01/23/2013 9 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)See Lattice SlideShare presentation dated July 16, 2010, for an in-depth discussion ofextremely high electric fields that can occur in the vicinity of dendrite tips and juxtaposednanoparticles in which there can be utterly enormous micron-scale local power densities.01/23/2013 10 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Micron-scaleLENR-activepatches, whilerather tiny on thescale of the entireinterior of abattery, createvery potentlocalized hotspots that mayreach peaktemperatures ashigh as 4,000 to6,000 degreesKelvin --- LENRshave beenexperimentallyobserved to boilrefractory metalsin micron-sizedsurface cratersover a period of~10 to 300nanoseconds,which is roughlythe lifetime of anactive LENRpatch. 01/23/2013 11 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)01/23/2013 12 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)This is why, in thepresentlyindeterminatesubset of fieldfailure events inwhich LENRscould potentiallybe occurring,even a minusculesuper-hot nuclearheat spark mightvery well beextremelyeffective attriggering vastlylarger chemicalthermal runawayprocesses. 01/23/2013 14 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)This is a keydistinction tounderstand -they make averyimportantpoint here. 01/23/2013 16 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013) Excellent summary of characteristics of field failures.Super-importantpoint that theyare making here- please heedthis warning 01/23/2013 17 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Those whoknowinglychoose toignore theseimportantpoints maylive to regrettheir decisionto do so. 01/23/2013 18 Copyright Springer 2012

Chapter 9 by Barnett et al. Batteries for Sustainability R. Brodd, ed. Springer 2012 (e-book 2013)Once runawayevent istriggered, celltemperaturecan go from150 degrees Cup to over 600degrees C,"almostinstantly."Internal celltemperaturesrise veryquickly insuch events. 01/23/2013 19 Copyright Springer 2012

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Lattice Energy LLC- Field Failures and LENRs in Lithium-based Batteries-Jan 23 2013

by Lewis Larsen on Jan 23, 2013

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