2023-05-17 06:30:05
Lithium-ion batteries may be present everywhere, but they present many risks, including fire and explosion, both during storage, transport and use. The German group WAGNER GmbH, which specializes in fire protection systems, has just been rewarded for having developed a fire-fighting solution dedicated to storage warehouses for lithium-ion batteries.
The fire hazard associated with the storage of lithium-ion batteries is a very current issue. Thus, on January 16, 2023, a huge fire broke out in a hangar in Grand-Couronne in Seine-Maritime where approximately 12,250 batteries or lithium battery cells were stored.
According to the operatorthe company Bolloré Logistics, a lithium battery allegedly caught fire, causing a fire which then spread to an adjoining area where 70,000 tires were stored.
This example is unfortunately not an isolated case.[1]because the dangerousness of lithium batteries is known.
- Risk of thermal runaway: The release of oxygen from the cathode material used in the battery can trigger a self-strengthening process.
- Chain reaction: A fire in one battery cell can quickly lead to a chain reaction with neighboring cells.
- Storage: the energy released during thermal runaway ignites adjacent materials and the fire can then spread.
- Chemical risk: in the event of an explosion, corrosive and toxic substances can be released[2].
The multiplication of uses (drills, laptops, storage of renewable energies, etc.) and the generalization of lithium batteries in electric mobility, in particular scooters, bicycles and electric cars, thus logically lead to an increase in the risk of fire and explosion!
In recent years, lithium batteries have even become the bane of waste sorting centers. Although they are part of WEEE, sorting errors are unfortunately frequent and any battery that ends up in the yellow bin is likely to explode and cause a fire to start in the event of a mechanical shock.
According a studylithium batteries would thus be responsible for a 25% increase in fires in sorting centers (in the United States and Canada), which is colossal!
Finally, in addition to being a major cause of fire, these batteries present significant risks for the professionals who handle them, which leads INRS to increase preventive actions.
Wagner offers a solution dedicated to the protection of high-bay logistics warehouses
Storing thousands of lithium batteries in the same place multiplies the risks of thermal runaway and therefore of fire, which requires the implementation of specifically adapted measures. As a specialist in fire protection, the German group Wagner therefore sought to develop a suitable solution for securing storage in automated high-bay warehouses.
According to Wagner, automating high-bay warehouses statistically increases the risk of fire, due to the proliferation of equipment that can overheat or short circuit. Given the unstable nature of lithium-ion batteries, the slightest outbreak of fire must be detected and taken care of as soon as it appears in order to avoid disaster!
The system developed by Wagner thus relies on active fire prevention, rather than damage control, with extinguishing a battery fire being particularly difficult to extinguish. The principle is simple: when a fire outbreak is detected, the system injects nitrogen into the area concerned, which creates a protective atmosphere and drives out the oxygen necessary for its propagation. The solution also relies on an early fire detection system, capable of detecting the source of a fire 2,000 times earlier than conventional systems in the event of thermal runaway.
This solution, awarded by the German media materialflusshas thus been successfully implemented in a warehouse of the company KETTLER Alu-Rad GmbHcapable of accommodating 50,000 electric bikes.
The risk of fire and explosion of lithium batteries: a challenge for insurers and firefighters alike!
In 2022, the ship Felicity Ace carrying 4,000 luxury cars, some of them electric, sank, most likely following a fire caused by lithium-ion batteries. Given the disastrous consequences, both economically[3] only the environment, and the extreme difficulty of extinguishing and containing this type of fire, a Norwegian shipping company even took a radical decision: to ban the transport of electric vehicles!
Moreover, the dangerousness of these batteries is also well known to the aeronautical industry, the transport of cargoes of lithium-ion batteries having caused several serious incidents in the past[4]. Finally, remember that the millions of lithium batteries transported “unintentionally” by airliners each year via the electronic devices of passengers also represent a major risk.
[1] A list of events involving lithium batteries is available ici.
[2] Chlorine and fluorine compounds, acids, formaldehyde, benzene, styrene, etc.
[4] The Malaysian plane MH370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, was carrying a batch of Li-ion batteries and the fire in the hold is one of the hypotheses that forced the captain to change course to the west
1684494286
#fire #protection #system #protect #lithiumion #battery #storage #warehouses