ebook img

Battery Hazards and Accident Prevention PDF

354 Pages·1994·6.61 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Battery Hazards and Accident Prevention

BATTERY HAZARDS AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION BATTERY HAZARDS AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION Samuel C. Levy Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, New Mexico and Per Bro Southwest Electrochemical Company Santa Fe, New Mexico SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levy, Samuel C. Battery hazards and accident prevention I Samuel C. Levy and Per Bro. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4899-1461-3 ISBN 978-1-4899-1459-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-1459-0 1. Electric batteries--Safety measures. 2. Electric batteries -Accidents. I. Bra, P. <Perl II. Title. TK2941.L43 1994 621.31'242'0289--dc20 94-30814 CIP ISBN 978-1-4899-1461-3 © 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1994 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1994 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher Preface This book is about how to avoid the accidents and injuries that may occur when batteries are abused or mishandled. It is the first book to deal specifically with this subject in a reasonably comprehensive manner accessible to readers ranging from regular consumers to technical specialists. Batteries and battery processes are described in sufficient detail to enable readers to understand why and how batteries cause accidents and what can be done to prevent them. Each year in the United States alone, thousands of individuals are injured by battery accidents, some of which are severely disabling. The tragedy is that such accidents need not occur. The book is intended to satisfy the needs of a varied group of readers: battery users in general, battery engineers, and designers of battery-operated equipment and consumer electronics. Since the book is a reference source of information on batteries and battery chemicals, we believe it may also be useful to those studying the environment as well as to medical personnel called upon to treat battery injuries. There are no prerequisites for an under standing of the text other than an interest in batteries and their safe usage. Nontechnical readers may skip the more technical segments of the book, such as the chapters of Part II, with no loss of understanding of the essential characteristics of batteries and their hazards. They may wish to begin with Chapter 2 and Part V, both of which deal with accidents and accident pre vention, before dipping into Chapters 1, 7, and 8 for information on batteries in general and on specific battery systems. If they are using lithium batteries, Part IV should be considered mandatory reading. Battery engineers will find that they know some ofthe material in the book already. They may want to skim lightly over Chapter 1 and Part III and to concentrate their reading on Parts II, IV, and V. The book should prove useful as a resource on batteries for designers of battery-operated equipment and consumer electronic devices. v vi PREFACE Designers play an essential role in ensuring the safety of battery-operated equipment and electronic devices for general consumer use. In order to ac complish that objective, they need to understand battery processes, the causes of battery hazards, and the possible effects of electronic and electrical circuitry on the development of hazardous conditions in batteries. Designers of new and advanced equipment may find Part IV on lithium batteries of particular value. It contains essential information on the advanced power sources likely to power consumer electronic devices of the future. Parts III and IV contain much of interest to environmentalists. There, we discuss the chemical com position of batteries and the toxicity of battery materials. We do not discuss the effects of battery materials on ecosystems, nor the disposal or recycling of batteries. These topics are treated in considerable detail in existing literature to which we refer in the text. We need to say a few words about the different manner in which we have organized the material on aqueous battery systems and that on nonaqueous lithium battery systems. Aqueous systems represent an essentially mature technology, and they have many common features. This enabled us to organize the existing information within a simply structured framework. Lithium bat teries, on the other hand, are still in development and display far greater chemical and physical variations than do aqueous batteries. Some lithium systems have found important applications, but the majority of them have yet to make a significant commercial impact. It is too early to say which among the many systems will become important in the general battery market. In addition, there is little commonality between the different lithium systems. We chose, therefore, to discuss each lithium system separately and in some detail to provide readers with information that may allow them to assess the relative merits of the various systems from an operational and safety point of view. Thus, lithium batteries occupy a disproportionate fraction of text relative to their commercial importance. We think this approach is justified both by the promise of lithium batteries for future applications and by their greater hazard potential compared with that of aqueous electrolyte battery systems. We benefited greatly from our discussions with friends and colleagues and by their advice during the preparation of the book. George Schwartz was very helpful with medical advice, Paul K.rehl provided useful information on the practical aspects of lithium battery safety, and D. B. Adolf, J. W. Braith waite, R. G. Buchheit, Jr., S. N. Burchett, W. R. Cieslak, J. M. Freese, and R. A. Guidotti of the Sandia National Laboratories were all very helpful with information on material properties relevant to battery safety. We are greatly indebted to them all and thank them for their contributions. This work was partially supported by the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94 AL 8500. Contents PART I. INTRODUCfiON TO BATTERIES AND SAFETY 1. Batteries and Battery Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.1. Battery Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.2. Active Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1.3. Elementary Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.3.1. Primary Aqueous Electrolyte Cells. . . . . . . . . . . 13 1.3.2. Primary Lithium Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.3.3. Rechargeable Nickel/Cadmium Cells. . . . . . . . . 17 1.3.4. Rechargeable Lead-Acid Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 1.3.5. Primary Multicell Batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 1.3.6. Rechargeable Multicell Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2. The Nature of Battery Hazards and Accidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 2.1. Battery Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 2.2. Accident Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 PART II. FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF BATTERY SAFETY 3. Battery Leakage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3.1. Gas Generation in Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3.1.1. Spontaneous Gas Generation, Internal Drivers 44 3.1.2. Electrical Gas Generation, External Drivers . . . 48 3.1.3. Gas-Generated Cell Pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 vii viii CONTENTS 3.2. Other Internal Leakage Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 3.3. Leakage Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 3.3.1. Crimp Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 3.3.2. Hermetic Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 3.3.3. Corrosion-Induced Leakage Paths . . . . . . . . . . . 69 3.4. Externally Induced Leakage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 3.5. Leakage Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 3.5.1. Electrolyte Leakage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 3.5.2. Gas Leakage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 4. Ruptures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 4.1. Mechanical Stress and Pressure Tolerance of Cells . . . . . 88 4.2. Safety Vents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 5. Explosions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 5 .1. The Cause of Battery Explosions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1 5.2. The Explosive Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 6. Thermal Runaway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 6.1. High Discharge Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 6.2. Short Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 6.3. Charging and Overcharging.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 PART III. AQUEOUS ELECTROLYTE BATTERIES 7. Primary Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 7. 1. Zinc/Carbon Batteries (Leclanche Batteries) . . . . . . . . . . 136 7. 2. Zinc/Chloride Batteries (Heavy-Duty Zinc/Carbon Batteries) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 7 .3. Alkaline Manganese Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 7 .4. Silver Oxide Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 7.5. Mercuric Oxide Batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 7.6. Cadmium/Mercuric Oxide Batteries.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 7.7. Zinc/Air Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 CONTENTS ix 7.8. Primary Battery Materials and Toxicity.... . . . . . . . . . . 147 7.8.1. Cadmium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 7.8.2. Manganese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 7.8.3. Mercury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 7 .8.4. Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 7.8.5. Zinc................................... 151 7.9. Aqueous Electrolyte Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 7.9.1. Ammoniacal Electrolytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 7.9.2. Alkaline Electrolytes...................... 153 7.9.3. Zinc Chloride Electrolytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 8. Rechargeable Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 8.1. Lead-Acid Batteries, Vented and Sealed . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 8.2. Nickel/Cadmium Batteries, Vented and Sealed . . . . . . . . 162 8.3. Nickel/Metal Hydride Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 8.4. Nickel/Zinc Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 8.5. Silver/Zinc Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 8.6. Manganese/Zinc Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 8. 7. Zinc/ Air Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 4 8.8. Rechargeable Battery Materials and Toxicity. . . . . . . . . . 177 8.8.1. Antimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 8.8.2. Arsenic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 8.8.3. Cadmium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 8.8.4. Cobalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 8.8.5. Lead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 8.8.6. Manganese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 8.8.7. Nickel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 8.8.8. Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 8.8.9. Zinc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 8.8.10. Metal Hydrides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 8.9. Aqueous Electrolyte Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 8.9.1. Alkaline Electrolytes...................... 184 8.9.2. Sulfuric Acid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 PART IV. LITHIUM BA TIERIES 9. Solid Cathode Lithium Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 9.1. Lithium/Manganese Dioxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 9 .1.1. General Safety Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 9 .1.2. Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 X CONTENTS 9.1.3. Safety-Related Design Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 9.1.4. Abuse Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 9.2. Lithium/Poly(Carbonmonofluoride).... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 9.2.1. Safety-Related Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 9.2.2. Safety/Abuse Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 9.3. Lithium/Copper Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 9.3.1. Safety-Related Design Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 9.3.2. Safety/Abuse Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 9.4. Lithium/Copper Oxyphosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 9.4.1. Safety Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 9.5. Lithium/Copper Sulfide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 9.5.1. Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 9.5.2. Design Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 9.5.3. Safety/Abuse Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 9.6. Lithium/Vanadium Pentoxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 9.6.1. Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 9.6.2. Abuse Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 9. 7. Lithium/Chromium Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 9.7.1. Safety/Abuse Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 9.8. Lithium/Iron Sulfide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 9.8.1. Design Features.......................... 202 9.8.2. Safety/Abuse Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 9.9. Lithium/Silver Vanadium Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 9.9.1. Safety Tests ............................. 203 9.10. Lithium/Iodine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 9.11. Other Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 9 .11.1. Lithium/Silver Chromate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 9.11.2. Lithium/Silver-Bismuth Chromate . . . . . . . . . . 205 9.11.3. Lithium/Bismuth Oxychromate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 9.11.4. Lithium/Bismuth Oxide................... 206 9.11.5. Lithium/Lead Iodide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 9 .11.6. Lithium/Bismuth-Lead Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 9.11.7. Lithium/Cobalt Polysulfide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 10. Lithium/Thionyl Chloride Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 10.1. Documented Safety Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 10.2. Hazardous Reactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 10.2.1. Normal Discharge........................ 212 10.2.2. Forced Overdischarge into Reversal. . . . . . . . . . 213 10.2.3. Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 10.2.4. Other Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 10.2.5. Increased Pressure....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Description:
This book is about how to avoid the accidents and injuries that may occur when batteries are abused or mishandled. It is the first book to deal specifically with this subject in a reasonably comprehensive manner accessible to readers ranging from regular consumers to technical specialists. Batteries
See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.