Numerical simulation of the fire suppression effect of fine water mist on electric vehicles

doi:10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2024.1171

Abstract

Abstract:

This study examines mechanical abuse-induced thermal runaway in on-board lithium batteries and evaluates the effects of water mist on the suppression of electric vehicle (EV) fires under different working conditions. We constructed an EV fire model using Fire Dynamics Simulation Software to simulate full-vehicle combustion dynamics and assess the fire suppression strategies. Through numerical simulations, we investigated the development law of EV fire, determined the optimal working conditions for water mist, and analyzed the effect on the interior temperature suppression of the vehicle under optimal conditions. The results reveal that in the absence of any preventive and control measures, EV fires spread rapidly and on a significant scale, with a peak heat release rate (PHRR) of 5740 kW, generating high temperatures, smoke, and flames that pose a serious threat to occupant safety. The smoke generation time lag relative to the flame and heat release rate (HRR) was also determined. Through systematic evaluation of the mitigation effect and delay time of the fine water mist system under different working conditions, this study determined that a fine water mist injection flow rate of 5 L/min and a droplet diameter of 500 μm are optimal working conditions. Under this optimal condition, the delay time of the PHRR was extended by 16.5 s, and the mitigation rate of the PHRR reached 23.69% compared to scenarios without fire prevention and control measures. The comparative analysis of the changes in the interior temperature of the EV fires with no fine-mist system and under the optimal fine-mist condition revealed that the system not only significantly reduced the interior temperature but also delayed the temperature rise time, thus significantly improving safety. This study provides an in-depth discussion of the effects of fine water mist on EV fires under different operating conditions, offering valuable scientific guidance for EV fire prevention and control, enhancing the safety performance of EV fires, and reducing the potential damage of fires to people and property.

Key words: electric vehicle, fine water mist, combustion characteristics, fire prevention and control, temperature spread

CLC Number:

U 492.8⁺3

Jintao WU, Yongjun ZHOU, Xu YANG, Chenxin DENG, Yiming HAN. Numerical simulation of the fire suppression effect of fine water mist on electric vehicles[J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2025, 14(5): 2098-2105.

Figures/Tables 12

Fig. 1

Table 1

Table 2

Fig. 2

Table 3

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Table 4

Fig. 8

References 20

1	宋爽, 李福, 唐西胜. 锂离子电池安全状态评估研究进展[J]. 储能科学与技术, 2023, 12(11): 3545-3555. DOI: 10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2023.0512.
	SONG S, LI F, TANG X S. Research progress on the safety-state assessment of lithium-ion batteries[J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(11): 3545-3555. DOI: 10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2023.0512.
2	NIE B S, DONG Y S, CHANG L. The evolution of thermal runaway parameters of lithium-ion batteries under different abuse conditions: A review[J]. Journal of Energy Storage, 2024, 96: 112624. DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2024.112624.
3	LAI T R, ZHAO H, SONG Y Z, et al. Mechanism and control strategies of lithium-ion battery safety: A review (small methods 1/2025)[J]. Small Methods, 2025, 9(1): 2570007. DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202570007.
4	HYNYNEN J, WILLSTRAND O, BLOMQVIST P, et al. Analysis of combustion gases from large-scale electric vehicle fire tests[J]. Fire Safety Journal, 2023, 139: 103829. DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf. 2023.103829.
5	KANG H C. Experiment on extinguishing thermal runaway in a scaled-down model of an electric vehicle battery[J]. International Journal of Automotive Technology, 2024, 25(5): 989-998. DOI: 10.1007/s12239-024-00065-z.
6	CUI Y, LIU J H, HAN X, et al. Full-scale experimental study on suppressing lithium-ion battery pack fires from electric vehicles[J]. Fire Safety Journal, 2022, 129: 103562. DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2022.103562.
7	BLUM A, LONG R T. Full-scale fire tests of electric drive vehicle batteries[J]. SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars-Mechanical Systems, 2015, 8(2015-01-1383): 565-572. https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2015-01-1383/.
8	PARK O B. Best practices for emergency response to incidents involving electric vehicles battery hazards: A report on full-scale testing results[R]. The Fire Protection Research Foundation, Quincy, MA, Report, 2013 (1205174.000): F0F0. http://tkolb.net/FireReports/2014/EV%20BatteriesPart1.pdf.
9	ZHAO C X, HU W H, MENG D, et al. Full-scale experimental study of the characteristics of electric vehicle fires process and response measures[J]. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 2024, 53: 103889. DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2023.103889.
10	张良, 赵志伟, 张得胜, 等. 电动汽车热失控危害性评测技术研究[J]. 消防科学与技术, 2024, 43(5): 756-761. DOI: 10.20168/j.1009-0029.2024.05.756.06.
	ZHANG L, ZHAO Z W, ZHANG D S, et al. Discussion on hazard assessment scheme for thermal runaway of electric vehicle[J]. Fire Science and Technology, 2024, 43(5): 756-761. DOI: 10.20168/j.1009-0029.2024.05.756.06.
11	LOU Z, HUANG J Q, WANG M, et al. Inhibition performances of lithium-ion battery pack fires by fine water mist in an energy-storage cabin: A simulation study[J]. Physics of Fluids, 2024, 36(4): 045141. DOI: 10.1063/5.0206160.
12	PING P, GAO X Z, KONG D P, et al. Experimental study on the synergistic strategy of liquid nitrogen and water mist for fire extinguishing and cooling of lithium-ion batteries[J]. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 2024, 188: 713-725. DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2024.05.077.
13	ZHU S X, HAN J D, PAN T S, et al. A novel designed visualized Li-ion battery for in situ measuring the variation of internal temperature[J]. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2020, 37: 100707. DOI: 10.1016/j.eml.2020.100707.
14	张倩, 陈慧敏, 金渊, 等. 细水雾抑制锂离子电池热失控及火焰对抗研究[J]. 消防科学与技术, 2024, 43(8): 1132-1137. DOI: 10.20168/j.1009-0029.2024.08.1132.06.
	ZHANG Q, CHEN H M, JIN Y, et al. Study on the suppression of thermal runaway and flame confrontation of lithium-ion batteries with water mist[J]. Fire Science and Technology, 2024, 43(8): 1132-1137. DOI: 10.20168/j.1009-0029.2024.08.1132.06.
15	DENG L, CHEN Q, HE Y H, et al. Detection of smoke from infrared image frames in the aircraft cargoes[J]. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, 2021, 17(4): 15501477 2110098. DOI: 10.1177/15501477211009808.
16	李胜利, 李孝斌. FDS火灾数值模拟[M]. 北京: 化学工业出版社, 2019.
	LI S L, LI X B. Numerical simulation of FDS fire[M]. Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 2019.
17	WAN K D, HARTL S, VERVISCH L, et al. Combustion regime identification from machine learning trained by Raman/Rayleigh line measurements[J]. Combustion and Flame, 2020, 219: 268-274. DOI: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2020.05.024.
18	LIU T Q, LIU K N, JIA R H, et al. Process of cabin smoke and flame propagation and emergency evacuation characteristics of personnel during sudden fire of Boeing 737[J]. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 2024, 60: 104804. DOI: 10.1016/j.csite. 2024.104804.
19	WANG Z, YANG H, LI Y, et al. Thermal runaway and fire behaviors of large-scale lithium ion batteries with different heating methods[J]. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2019, 379: 120730. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.06.007.
20	SUN P Y, BISSCHOP R, NIU H C, et al. A review of battery fires in electric vehicles[J]. Fire Technology, 2020, 56(4): 1361-1410. DOI: 10.1007/s10694-019-00944-3.

参数名称	数值
正常容量/Ah	50
最大放电率/C	1
最大充电率/C	1
充电截止电压/V	4.25
放电截止电压/V	2.5

名称	材料	密度/(kg/m³)	热导率/[W/(m·K)]	点燃温度/℃	燃烧热/(kJ/kg)
车座及内饰	聚氨酯软泡	28	0.05	350	30000
电池	电解液	1290	0.45	102	通过HRR直接设定
轮胎	聚氯乙烯(PVC)	1380	0.16	507	19000
整车外壳	铁合金	1290	0.45	—	—

雾滴直径/μm	喷射流量 /(L/min)	PHRR 延迟的时间/s	PHRR 大小减小程度/%
100	3	8.5	5.92
100	4	12	7.32
100	5	17.5	15.16
300	3	6.5	7.67
300	4	15.5	9.76
300	5	17.5	15.16
500	3	6.5	7.67
500	4	10	16.90
500	5	16.5	23.69

[1]	Ping DING, Taotao LI, Linfeng ZHENG, Weixiong WU. SOH estimation of real-world power batteries based on Soft-DTW algorithm and multisource reature fusion [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2025, 14(5): 2081-2097.
[2]	Lei PENG, Zhaopeng NI, Yue YU, Fupeng SUN, Xiulong XIA, Peng ZHANG, Sibo SUN. Experimental study on NCM lithium-ion battery electric vehicle fire caused by overcharging [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2025, 14(4): 1484-1495.
[3]	Xingguang CHEN, Yifan SHEN, Yuxin SHAO, Yuejiu ZHENG, Tao SUN, Xin LAI, Kai SHEN, Xuebing HAN. Capacity identification method for LiFePO₄ batteries with specific optimization in real vehicle applications [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(9): 2963-2971.
[4]	Songyan LIU, Weiliang WANG, Shiliang PENG, Junfu LYU. Thermal management system for power battery in high/low-temperature environments [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(7): 2181-2191.
[5]	Qilin GUO, Liangyu TAO, Zheshu MA, Yongming GU, Yuting WANG. Numerical simulation analysis of combustion of electric sport utility vehicles [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(3): 1000-1008.
[6]	Zhaoxiang TANG, Wantao XU, Hao DENG, Wenjie LU. Optimal operation of urban railway traction power supply system with electric vehicles based on chance-constrained programming [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(2): 526-535.
[7]	Yunjie LU. Research on control technology of electric vehicle energy storage system [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(2): 608-610.
[8]	Jie ZHU. Analysis of thermal storage performance of electric vehicle thermal phase change energy storage system under the background of new energy and low carbon [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(12): 4406-4408.
[9]	Pingjian NIU, Weijian HAO, Zhiyang SU, Shengkun SHI, Shaohui LIU. Interpretation and analysis of GB/T 31467—2023: Electrical performance test methods for lithium-ion traction battery packs and systems in electric vehicles [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(10): 3672-3679.
[10]	Ruijie HONG, Danzhen GU, Ruanqing MO, Sinan CAI, Chaolin ZHANG. Research on optimization of EV energy storage V2G strategy based on user preference [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(8): 2659-2667.
[11]	Xiang ZHANG, Jundong DUAN, Boyang KANG. Dual incentive optimal scheduling of microgrid considering flexible energy storage of electric vehicles [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(8): 2556-2564.
[12]	Qinpei CHEN, Xuehui WANG, Wenzhong MI. Experiential study on the toxic and explosive characteristics of thermal runaway gas generated in electric-vehicle lithium-ion battery systems [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(7): 2256-2262.
[13]	Xinlei CAI, Jinzhou ZHU, Mai LIU, Jiale LIU, Zijie MENG, Yang YU. Peak shaving strategy of electric vehicles based on an improved Dingo optimization algorithm [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(6): 1913-1919.
[14]	Jie WANG, Chenxi ZHAO, Changzheng LI, Xuehui WANG, Qinpei CHEN, Wenzhong MI, Guo XU, Jian WANG. Thermal runaway and water spray of full-size electric vehicle under the underground garage scene： An experimental study [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(11): 3379-3386.
[15]	Shigang LUO, Jie TENG, Zhuangxi TAN. Optimal allocation of energy storage in distribution network considering aggregate regulation of electric vehicles [J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2023, 12(11): 3395-3405.