Journal of Energy Storage 15 (2018) 345–349

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Energy Storage

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/est

Capacity detection of internal short circuit

T. Reichl* , P. Hrzina
Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrotechnology, Technická 2, Praha 6, 166 27, Czech Republic

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 12 September 2017 The most critical defect in electrochemical cells is connected with internal short circuit (ISCr) occurrence.
Received in revised form 1 December 2017 It may cause a thermal runaway which can even lead to explosion of the cell. Although the causes are well
Accepted 4 December 2017 know (manufacturing defect, overcharging, overdischarging), the timely detection of ISCr is very difficult.
Available online 4 January 2018 This work focuses on the detection of an internal short circuit while the cell is being charged using the
time dependence of the capacity evaluation.
Keywords: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Battery
Internal short circuit
Internal resistance
Diagnostics
Charge of battery

1. Introduction 2. Theory

Charging Lithium batteries is standardly performed in two
modes, Constant Current Mode (CC) and Constant Voltage Mode
(CV). The first mode is characterized by a constant current while
increasing the voltage. The time that the cell spends during
charging in the constant current mode is the first indicator of the
state of health of the electrochemical cell. Longer charging time in
CC mode in most cases means that the cell is in better condition [1].
The charging process switches into the CV mode when the
maximum charge voltage is reached. This value should be the value
set on the charger (or BMS) in accordance with the manufacturer's
recommendations. During the process, the CV current gradually
decreases within the cell. Typically, this value is approx. 5% of the
charging current. After reaching the steady current in the cell, the
cell can be considered as fully charged and the charger (or BMS)
terminates the charging cycle [1].
This is what the correct charging of cells based on the
technology of Lithium should look like. But what sometimes
happens is that this process is not followed. The reason lays in
internal failure of the electrochemical cell. In the case of Lithium
technologies, internal short circuits very often occur [1].
These internal short circuits can cause a reduction of cell
capacity or they may reach levels that lead even to an explosion of
the cell (Fig. 1).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: reichl.tomas@fel.cvut.cz (T. Reichl), hrzinap@fel.cvut.cz
(P. Hrzina).
The most common mechanism of creating an internal short
circuit (ISCr) in the cell is the presence of small Li-metal particles
from the manufacturing process. These particles settle on the
cathode plate, they dissolve and transfer to the anode plate. This is
where they are deposited, which can lead to the formation of
dendrites. Dendrites can further grow up to the cathode area
creating an internal short circuit in the cell. If the internal short
circuit current reaches the critical value, it leads to discharging of
the cell through this internal short circuit, to extreme local heating
and the cathode and anode material decomposition reaction. The
Fig. 2 shows an equivalent circuit with a marked ISCr [2,3].
Depending on cell design, up to 70% of the entire energy of the
cell can be released in less than 60 s causing significant self-heating
of the cell. During ISCr, the high electrical current (10 A–15 A)
through the short circuited spot, causes localized heating inside
the cell. Risk of thermal runaway is then dependent on: (1)
localized heating energy of the ISCr spot and its duration, (2)
separator shrinkage, melting point and propagation, and (3) overall
cell temperature rise [4].
The internal short circuit results in a development of heat. If the
ISCr is not eliminated by a suitable separator or the separator is no
longer able to withstand the elevated temperature, the phenome-
non as a thermal runway (TR) occurs. This phenomenon ends with
battery internal structure damage and, in the case of an improper
battery construction, may lead to explosion. The existence of a
permanent ISCr causes faster self-discharging. The result of ISCr is
SOC reduction, which further leads to a lower open circuit voltage
(OCV) [2].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2017.12.006
2352-152X/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
346 T. Reichl, P. Hrzina / Journal of Energy Storage 15 (2018) 345–349

Fig. 1. Example of an ideal dC/dt curve without ISCr.

1) Comparing voltage, current and temperature using the model,

2) identification of unusual anomalies of waveforms of voltage and
current,
3) checking voltage, current or battery capacity,
4) comparison of battery capacity with calculations,
5) observing the consistency of the battery module.

4. Calculations

This work focuses on the detection ISCr by calculating the slope

of the time course of the charging current, voltage and capacity of
Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of a battery model with ISCr where Vi represent the
cell. This method is based on the identification of unusual
internal voltage of battery and Vbatt represent voltage of battery; Ri is the original anomalies I (t), V (t) and C (t).
internal resistance where Ri a and Ri b represent the internal resistances of
electrodes; and ISCr is the current flowing through the Risr resistance.

Table 1
Results for sample NCR_PF_4.
The initial indicators revealing the internal short circuit
phenomenon in the Li-ion cells are very difficult to estimate [5]. Charge and discharge capacity of batter
Unfortunately, as soon as the internal short circuit indicators of the Order Charge Capacity [mAh] Discharge Capacity [mAh]
battery are visible from the outside, there is no longer an effective
1 2625 2684
method against an uncontrollable thermal reaction and there TR 2 2489 2525
occurs. The only step in the TR to reduce its possible and unavoidable 3 2527 2564
consequences is the proper design of the pressure-relief valve cell. 4 2516 2554
According to [3] it can be further proven that the magnitude of the 5 2521 2554
6 2510 2543
short-circuit current does not matter to the cell size.
7 2494 2533
Research shows that Li-ion cells with capacity greater than 8 2457 2494
260 mAh are at risk of thermal runaway when charged to 4.2 V. 9 2394 2432
Development of heat in the case of the 200 mAh cell under ISCr 10 2432 2467
11 2451 2518
could be marginal and 130–180 mAh cells are not likely to reach
12 2465 2508
thermal runaway, especially at voltages lower than 4.35 V [4]. 13 2225 2265
ISCr location plays a critical role in the consequences of an ISCr 14 2237 2260
occurrence. ISCr at the edge of the electrode where the heat 15 2367 2379
conduction to the cell-can is limited by low thermal conductivity of 16 2386 2390
17 2384 2388
the electrolyte and separator materials (>0.3 W/mK) will have
18 2380 2390
limited heat dissipation. Therefore, ISCr heat generation mainly 19 2383 2394
transfers back into the jelly-roll through anode copper and cathode 20 2256 2261
aluminium current collectors with high thermal conductivity [4]. 21 2403 2416
22 2368 2375
23 2379 2384
3. Methods for ISCr diagnostics 24 2426 2446
25 2434 2433
It is therefore important to detect the onset of internal short 26 2438
circuit of the battery. The methods of ISCr detection can be divided
into 5 categories [2,6,7]:
 T. Reichl, P. Hrzina / Journal of Energy Storage 15 (2018) 345–349 347

Fig. 3. Example of ISCr dI/dt for the sample NCR_PF_4 and the number cycle 14.

The first method I (t) is based on monitoring of the charging dC/dt > 0, dC/dt < 0 (3)
current during CV mode. If there is a sudden increase in the current
These methods have the advantage of not being too demanding
value, it can be considered as an indicator of an internal short
on both computing power and hardware means. Today, each
circuit in the cell [7]. The numerical derivation uses the second-
battery system has current monitoring device, and in better
order polynomial fit. The time interval, dt, is 5 s. We take the
systems, temperature control as well. Including the above
absolute value of the result of the numerical derivative in order to
presented methods of ISCr detection means just adjusting program
plot it on logarithmic scale. To achieve an early detection of the first
inside the system.
indicators of ISCr, numerical differentiation method of the
charging current was used (Eqs. (1)–(3)). The numerical derivation
and observing of its changes (slope) ensure the timely detection of 5. Experiment
ISCr indicators in the cell.
Measurement was done on automated cycler stations H-
dI/dt > 0 (1) tronic Accumaster C5. On this device, parameters for charging
and discharging currents were set according to the cell
Further, this work focused on the voltage drop during charging
manufacturer's recommendations (0.5C): the final discharging
V (t). This method is based on monitoring the voltage during
voltage was set to 3 V, the final charging voltage to 4.2 V and the
charging in CV, CC, and Constant Power (CP) modes. If the voltage
charging current was set under 5% of the nominal charging
drops during charging, it can be noted that the internal short circuit
current. The cycling station records for later evaluation the
is highly probable [4].
current, voltage, capacitance and temperature values at regular
intervals. Samples of the NCR type lithium technology and 18650
dV/dt < 0 (2)
cells were tested.
The last used method for ISCr detection, numerical derivation of Because of the large amount of data, a sample for which an
cell capacity C (t) has been utilized. This method is based on the internal short circuit current has been detected is further shown
same principle as the methods mentioned above, i.e. the detection and discussed. This was a battery from the Panasonic NCR18650PF
of anomalies at the course of slope of the C derivation curve.

Fig. 4. Example of ISCr dC/dt for the sample NCR_PF_4 and the number cycle 14.
348 T. Reichl, P. Hrzina / Journal of Energy Storage 15 (2018) 345–349

Fig. 5. Results of charge capacity of battery NCR_PF_4.

Fig. 6. Results of discharge capacity of battery NCR_PF_4.

with laboratory grade NCR_PF_4. The results of measured capacity cell has been so badly damaged that it no longer achieves its
of this sample are summarized in Table 1. nominal capacity.
There was also a rapid drop in battery capacity observed. After
the first cycle, the capacity of 2625 mAh was measured, and the
6. Results and discussion
capacity of only 2225 mAh was measured after 13 cycles. The
capacity difference between the first cycle and the 13th cycle is
As already mentioned, the new method of detection of ISCr has
therefore 400 mAh.
been tested when evaluating the numerical derivation of cell
capacity. The first results show that numerical derivations dC/dt
7. Conclusion
detect ISCr. Figs. 3 and 4 are an example between the numerical
derivation dI/dt of the numerical derivation dC/dt. This method has
An internal short circuit was detected on the sample marked
the advantage of detecting ISCr from a smaller amount of data, or
NCR_PF_4. As described above, there has been a major change in
from a system where, for example, only data about cell capacity is
the charging current in CV mode. This can be considered as an
saved (Figs. 5 and 6).
indicator of an internal chemical disorder.
From the measured results it is evident that early detection of
In the last part, another method using the numerical derivation
internal short circuit is very important. The results show how the
of the capacity by time for detecting ISCr was tested. The first
internal short circuit mechanism has a very rapid effect on cell life.
results show that even this ISCr detection method will be
In the next part of the cell test, the separator tried to prevent the
applicable. This method of detection will be further examined in
internal shorting of the cell from increasing which is apparent at
the future.
the capacity increase of the cell between cycles 15 and 19. But the
 T. Reichl, P. Hrzina / Journal of Energy Storage 15 (2018) 345–349
In the case of the second diagnostic method (voltage drop), the
cell with this defect was not found in the control group. Based on
available literature and our experience, it is recommended to
implement both methods in BMS systems for better sensitivity and
reliability of ISCr detection.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by SGC grant CTU, number
SGS17/087/OHK3/1T/13 and FEE CTU in Prague Laboratory of PV
Systems Diagnostics
References
[1] Thomas B. Reddy, David Linden, Linden's Handbook of Batteries, 4th ed.,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 2017 c2011, 1v. (various pagings). ISBN 9780071624213.
349
[2] Minggao Ouyang, Mingxuan Zhang, Xuning Feng, Languang Lu, Jianqiu Li,
Xiangming He, Yuejiu Zheng, Internal short circuit detection for battery pack
using equivalent parameter and consistency method, J. Power Sources 294
(2015) 272–283, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.06.087
Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/
S0378775315011210.
[3] M. Seo, T. Goh, M. Park, G. Koo, S.W. Kim, Detection of internal short circuit in
lithium ion battery using model-based switching model method, Energies 10
(2017) 76. Available from: http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/76.
[4] Hossein Maleki, Jason N. Howard, Internal short circuit in Li-ion cells, J. Power
Sources 191 (2) (2009) 568–574, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
jpowsour.2009.02.070 ISSN 03787753. Available from: http://linkinghub.
elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0378775309004224.
[5] D.H. Doughty, A.A. Pesaran, Vehicle Battery Safety Roadmap Guidance,
Subcontract Report NREL/SR-400e54404, (2012) .
[6] S. Okazaki, S. Higuchi, N. Kubota, S. Takahashi, Measurement of short circuit
current for low internal resistance batteries, J. Appl. Electrochem. 16 (1985)
512–516 Osaka: government industrial research institute, 1986.
[7] Sarah G. Stewart, Christopher Dangler, Weston A. Hermann, Scott I. Kohn, Kurt R.
Kelty, Christopher. Dangler, Methodology for Charging Batteries Safely. United
States. US2017/0074918A1, (2017) Granted 16.3.2017.