Battery monitoring with hydrogen sensors

Early detection of critical battery conditions & reduction of safety risks

Lithium-ion batteries are now an indispensable component of energy storage systems, electric vehicles, UPS systems and data centres. Despite high safety standards, mechanical damage, water ingress, manufacturing defects, overcharging or deep discharge can lead to critical cell conditions and thermal instability (‘thermal runaway’).

Characteristic gases, including hydrogen, are produced even in the early stages of such faults. Early detection of these gases enables a warning to be issued before temperatures rise to critical levels or thermal runaway occurs.

What is thermal runaway?

Thermal runaway refers to the thermal runaway of a battery cell. In this process, internal chemical reactions lead to an uncontrolled rise in temperature. As a result, hydrogen and other reaction gases can be released even in the early stages. Monitoring the hydrogen concentration often enables a significantly earlier warning than temperature measurements alone and supports the early detection of potentially critical battery conditions.

Hydrogen as an early indicator

Hydrogen is one of the most important early indicators of critical battery conditions. Modern sensor systems enable the continuous monitoring of battery systems and help operators to identify risks at an early stage and take appropriate action.

Typical applications include:

Electric mobility (automotive battery systems)
High-voltage batteries in commercial vehicles
Data centres
Stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS)
UPS systems
Energy storage in the hydrogen economy
Research and development applications

Datacenter und Rechenzentren

With the increasing use of AI applications and cloud infrastructures, the importance of large battery systems in data centres is also growing. The early detection of hydrogen can help to identify critical battery conditions in good time, minimise safety risks and increase the availability of critical infrastructure.

Early warning for maximum safety

Continuous monitoring of the battery environment helps operators to

detect critical conditions at an early stage,
initiate targeted maintenance measures,
avoid system downtime and
reduce safety risks.

Particularly in the case of large battery systems, the early detection of off-gas events can be crucial in preventing consequential damage.

From detection to risk minimisation

In addition to the early detection of hydrogen, recombiners (DeOxyKat/DeOxo-Kat) can be used to convert hydrogen into water steam in a controlled manner, thereby reducing the concentration of flammable gases.

The combination of hydrogen detection and hydrogen removal helps operators minimise safety risks and increase the availability of their plants.

System solutions from the neoxid group

The neoxid group develops and manufactures system solutions for demanding hydrogen applications. Our sensors enable the reliable detection of hydrogen in battery and energy storage systems and support the early detection of potentially critical operating conditions.

With our hydrogen recombiners (DeOxyKat), hydrogen can be broken down in a controlled manner to reduce the concentration of flammable gases and minimise safety risks.