Overcurrent Abuse of Primary Prismatic Zinc–Air Battery Cells Studying Air Supply Effects on Performance and Safety Shut-Down

Overcurrent abuse has been performed on commercial 48 Ah primary prismatic zinc (Zn)–Air battery cells with full air supply as well as with shut-off air supply. Compared to other battery technologies, e.g., lithium-ion batteries, metal–air batteries offer the possibility to physically stop the battery operation by stopping its air supply, thus offering an additional protection against severe battery damage in the case of, e.g., an accidental short circuit. This method may also reduce the electrical hazard in a larger battery system since, by stopping the air supply, the voltage can be brought to zero while maintaining the energy capacity of the battery. Measurements of overdischarge currents and current cut-off by suffocation have been performed to assess the safety of this type of Zn–air battery. The time to get to zero battery voltage is shown to mainly be determined by the volume of air trapped in the cell.