Thermal runaway is a well-known safety concern in Li-ion cells. Methods to predict and prevent thermal runaway are critically needed for enhanced safety and performance. While much work has been done on understanding the kinetics of various heat generation processes during thermal runaway, relatively lesser work exists on understanding how heat removal from the cell influences thermal runaway. Through a unified analysis of heat generation and heat removal, this paper derives and experimentally validates a non-dimensional parameter whose value governs whether or not thermal runaway will occur in a Li-ion cell. This parameter is named the Thermal Runaway Number (TRN), and comprises contributions from thermal transport within and outside the cell, as well as the temperature dependence of heat generation rate. Experimental data using a 26650 thermal test cell are in good agreement with the model, and demonstrate the dependence of thermal runaway on various thermal transport and heat generation parameters. This parameter is used to predict the thermal design space in which the cell will or will not experience thermal runaway. By combining all thermal processes contributing to thermal runaway in a single parameter, this work contributes towards a unified understanding of thermal runaway, and provides the fundamental basis for design tools for safe, high-performance Li-ion batteries. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.