MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of an Accelerating Rate Calorimeter System for Multidisciplinary Research, Education and Outreach

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Dearborn, Dearborn MI

Investigators

Abstract

The project establishes a new experimental facility at the University of Michigan – Dearborn. The main element of the facility, the accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC), will enable new opportunities to conduct research, education, and outreach in the area of management of thermal behavior of automotive batteries at the participating universities. The thermal behavior is a significant concern for the ongoing transition of the automotive technology to electric vehicles. The problems of degradation of battery’s performance at low and high temperatures, the danger of battery thermal runaway, overheating of fast chargers, etc. continue to be major challenges. The universities participating in the project are major feeders of engineering workforce and hubs of fundamental and applied research for the automotive industry in the Southeast Michigan, which includes the Big Three automakers and many of their suppliers. The new facility will stimulate growth of research in the area of vehicle electrification and battery technology. The facility will be incorporated in instruction of at least ten graduate and undergraduate courses, thus helping to build skills of future engineers, who will lead the nation’s transition to electric mobility. Expanded research opportunities for students will be created. The facility will also enable outreach activities to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the Detroit area to inspire STEM interest in K-12 students. The proposed ARC system is an effective tool to quantify features of thermal behavior, such as temporospatial temperature, reaction onset temperature, heat capacity, heat release rate, pressure rise rate, and gas generated under regular and extreme conditions. It will create new knowledge in numerous interdisciplinary areas, including battery degradation and safety, battery material development and testing, battery health monitoring, chemical gas sensing, CO2 adsorption, power electronics, and grid applications. The ARC system will enable exploration of exothermic runaway reactions from hazardous and reactive chemicals at a laboratory scale by simulating abusive extreme conditions such as nail penetration, crushing, overcharging, external short circuit, etc. The sealed chambers of the ARC will guarantee safe operation. A major advantage of the ARC in comparison with typical isothermal calorimeters is its smaller response time. This will allow us to measure very small heat releases and, as an example, quantify runaway explosive decompositions for a wide range of materials and devices, such as batteries, power electronics, and chemical materials. Acquisition of the proposed ARC system will enable more than 20 faculty at the University of Michigan - Dearborn and neighboring universities, all located in the Southeast Michigan, to conduct new research activities. The proposed instrument will also support interdisciplinary research collaboration among the participating universities and between the universities and industries, such as Ford Motor, GM, and Stellantis. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.