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Title: Analyzing system safety in lithium-ion grid energy storage

Journal Article · · Journal of Power Sources
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
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As grid energy storage systems become more complex, it grows more di cult to design them for safe operation. This paper first reviews the properties of lithium-ion batteries that can produce hazards in grid scale systems. Then the conventional safety engineering technique Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is reviewed to identify its limitations in complex systems. To address this gap, new research is presented on the application of Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) to a lithium-ion battery based grid energy storage system. STPA is anticipated to ll the gaps recognized in PRA for designing complex systems and hence be more e ective or less costly to use during safety engineering. It was observed that STPA is able to capture causal scenarios for accidents not identified using PRA. Additionally, STPA enabled a more rational assessment of uncertainty (all that is not known) thereby promoting a healthy skepticism of design assumptions. Lastly, we conclude that STPA may indeed be more cost effective than PRA for safety engineering in lithium-ion battery systems. However, further research is needed to determine if this approach actually reduces safety engineering costs in development, or improves industry safety standards.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Electricity (OE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1257985
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1253213
Report Number(s):
SAND-2015-5224J; PII: S037877531530327X
Journal Information:
Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 300, Issue C; ISSN 0378-7753
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 37 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (10)

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Safety-Driven Design for Software-Intensive Aerospace and Automotive Systems journal April 2010
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Cited By (5)

Human factors and ergonomics systems-based tools for understanding and addressing global problems of the twenty-first century journal August 2019
Battery Management System Hardware Concepts: An Overview text January 2018
System Theoretic Process Analysis: A Literature Survey on the Approaches Used for Improving the Safety in Complex Systems book January 2019
Battery Management System Hardware Concepts: An Overview journal March 2018
Battery Management System Hardware Concepts: An Overview text January 2018

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Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Energy storage
Battery
Safety
Lithium-ion
STAMP
STPA