This presentation will provide an overview of how end-of-life lithium batteries are currently regulated as universal waste under RCRA and acknowledge regulatory gaps posed by novel aspects of waste lithium batteries. These challenges (such as their behavior when damaged or “insulted,” their variable form factor, and the fire hazards they pose) will be discussed in relation to the current regulations, potential best management practices, and EPA’s proposed rulemaking.

Energy storage systems are continuing to be deployed at a rapid pace. There have also been recent developments in codes and standards requirements. This presentation discusses the market growth, updates about codes and standards, and potential impacts on projects.

Customer safety is a top priority throughout the vehicle development cycle and implementing effective thermal runaway mitigation technology is vital. Ideally, safety tests should simulate realistic failure scenarios to accurately assess performance of propagation mitigation strategies. The nature of abuse inflicted during safety tests can profoundly influence the outcomes of the resulting thermal runaway and lead to inaccurate conclusions regarding the efficacy of newly developed battery safety technologies.

Thermal, electrochemical, and mechanical tests are all useful tools for abuse testing of batteries. This presentation will highlight the details of these tests and the sensitivity of the experiment inputs that can affect the outcome. The variables measured will be expounded upon to better understand their significance and contribution to the bigger picture of battery performance.

This talk will provide a high-level overview of the BESS product lifecycle, and it will lay out the total value chain from design and development, site engineering and deployment, digitization, remote monitoring, field service, and asset management. It will illustrate how safety and risk management are woven into each of these value-chain components.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in various sectors, including search engines, autonomous vehicles, and content generation. Typically trained on substantial datasets, AI excels at uncovering hidden relationships between inputs and outputs. The integration of domain knowledge, such as battery technology, significantly enhances AI performance. This presentation explores how the synergy of battery expertise and AI can improve user experience through context-based charging and battery health prediction.

As lithium-ion batteries increase in capacity, early failure detection is critical for safety. Current battery management systems (BMS) often fail to detect thermal runaway until it's too late, highlighting the need for advanced diagnostics. Traditional BMS rely on temperature and voltage monitoring, which is inadequate under abusive conditions. This presentation compares rapid Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and gas sensors for lithium iron phosphate and nickel manganese cobalt cells under overtemperature and overcharge conditions. Results indicate that rapid EIS provides earlier warnings for overtemperature, while gas sensors excel in overcharge scenarios, suggesting a combined approach for optimal diagnostics.

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used across various industries, ranging from portable consumer electronics to automotive, aerospace, and defense applications. When lithium-ion batteries are subjected to certain off-nominal conditions, they may experience thermal runaway which may result in the significant release of gaseous and particulate emissions and be accompanied by smoke/fire, posing a severe risk to human health and the environment. This presentation will feature a discussion of controlled laboratory experiments aimed at characterizing emissions observed during failure of li-ion batteries. Experiments included tests at different states-of-charge, and different battery cathode chemistries. Results from this research provide critical insight into thermal runaway hazards, which will help inform emergency response, as well as, in the development of mitigation and control strategies.

This presentation will describe failure physics and dangers after cell venting, as well as passive and active countermeasures that can be deployed based on fast detection system that is generally agnostic to electrochemistry, cell design, and system configuration.

As EVs become more mainstream, safety concerns are paramount for OEMs, consumers, and regulators. Owing to thermal runaway risks in an EV crash incident, it is important to know the mechanical deformation that triggers internal shorting. Understanding mechanical design limits helps design crashworthy vehicles while balancing the need for lightweighting. In this presentation, a cell-to-vehicle crash simulation workflow will be discussed. LS-DYNA models were calibrated and subsequently validated against cell experimental data. Multiphysics models that captured a battery cell’s electrical, mechanical, and thermal behaviors were then used in simulation of full electric vehicle crash.

This presentation focuses on the findings of WMG’s published work for the UK government Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), on battery fire safety for PLEVs. Real-world statistics highlighted the severity of fires when batteries are charged or stored indoors. A review of UK legislation and international standards revealed inconsistencies and shortcomings that may contribute to the likelihood and severity of fires. Inspection and testing of available e bike, e-scooter and conversion kit batteries showed how reasonably foreseeable misuse can result in severe fire hazards in products with inadequate protection systems or inferior manufacturing quality. WMG made over 70 suggestions, for various stakeholders, aimed at reducing the frequency and severity of these fires.

A key challenge for redox flow batteries (RFBs) is the inability to precisely monitor state of charge (SOC) imbalance and degradation during operation. Techniques commonly employed today include costly collection of electrolyte aliquots for ex-situ testing, or the use of sensor systems that are often repurposed from other intended applications. In light of this challenge, this presentation will focus on recent efforts to characterize RFB electrolyte composition through a real-time electroanalytical platform that is generalizable across a range of RFB electrolytes. Broader implications regarding the development and deployment.

This session presents a high-throughput encapsulation process using silicone or foams, designed to achieve Partial Propagation Resistance (PPR) through a combination of advanced process engineering and polymerization control. Zoned management of temperature, pressure, and additives enables full in-place curing of 3L of material in under 90 seconds with less than 0.1% glass balloon loss. Integrated inline cameras, color sensors, and robotics drive full automation—advancing battery safety without compromising cost, weight, or production efficiency.

The use of lithium-ion batteries for EVs and BESS has surged globally, but recent fire incidents have raised safety concerns. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the safety profiles of different battery technologies under off-nominal conditions to improve safety and implement mitigation strategies. This study focuses on characterizing the safety aspects of commercial lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells of different formats. Results of safety tests, including overcharge, overdischarge, external short tests, and external heating tests, will be discussed. The results of this study provide valuable insights that can help develop safer and more reliable energy storage solutions.

High-resistance internal short circuits in lithium-ion batteries can be challenging to detect. Electrical methods typically require prolonged monitoring periods to distinguish the electrical resistance of a short circuit from electrochemical activity. In this talk, we will discuss using liquid nitrogen to freeze a cell’s electrolyte and allow for direct measurement of the electrical resistance. Additionally, we will explore using high-potential ("HiPot") testing while frozen to help reveal the location of the short circuit.

Sodium-ion batteries are making their entrance onto the world stage with a flourish, as companies in China and the US introduce new products. The safety implications of Na-ion batteries are far reaching, depending on the chemistry of the electrolyte and electrodes: some Na-ion cells are safer, while others see no demonstrable improvement in safety parameters when compared to Li-ion.

Xilectric is developing a hardware-enabled cell mapping tool that accelerates battery evaluation using precise electrochemical measurements and automated quality control metrics. By identifying subtle performance variations and enabling mission-specific screening, the system provides a faster, data-driven alternative to traditional methods. This approach improves cell binning, reduces qualification time, and lowers integration risks for new chemistries, supporting both R&D teams and manufacturers in selecting reliable, high-performance battery cells.

Thermal runaway is a critical concern in battery safety modeling, requiring multi-physics simulations to capture electrical, thermal, and mechanical behaviors. Electrical properties are characterized using HPPC, EIS, and entropy tests. Thermal behavior involves measuring capacity, conductivity, melting point, and electric conductivity. Mechanical properties are evaluated via stress-strain tests. This work presents relevant test methods and data, enabling accurate property characterization for improved safety modeling of battery systems.

Vents are crucial for battery pack safety, especially under thermal runaway conditions. As battery cell chemistry and pack designs evolve, selecting appropriate venting units becomes increasingly important. The presentation provides an overview of regulatory and technological trends influencing vent design and introduces additional features like gas sensors and hot particle filters.

Internal short circuits are a well-known safety risk in lithium-ion batteries. In this talk, we discuss transient lithium shorts that can develop at the end of charging. This behavior has been observed in cells from a range of field-returned consumer products and reproduced in cells cycled in the lab. The safety implications of these shorts and possible means of detecting them will be explored.

Recent changes to the China Battery Safety Standard have large implications on what chemistry to choose and pack design. This presentation will walk through what changes have been made, compare them to other regions, and propose what types of design solutions or materials can help meet regulatory requirements.