With the rapid usage increase of battery powered electric tools, personal vehicles, scooters etc. we are seeing increased reporting of Lithium-ion battery fires

The National Fire Industry Association (NFIA) partners with LPG Fire, an independently Australian owned distributer of specialist fire extinguishing, fire detection and fire prevention systems for special hazard risks. With all the uncertainty around this new technology, we look at how to manage it together.  

There is no doubt that this technology is currently a hot topic in Fire Protection. Lithium-ion batteries have proven to be difficult to manage from a detection and suppression point of view and it has been flagged as a mounting issue within construction.

There is currently no Australian Standard specifically referencing the performance, testing or manufacturing of extinguishers with relation to lithium-ion batteries.  There has been a significant effort worldwide to develop effective methods of controlling and extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires using multiple technologies including water mist, gaseous agents, firefighting foams and encapsulating agents such as F500. Testing outcomes demonstrate that gaseous agents and firefighting foams show very little control of these types of fires, however, the cooling effects of water mist have shown positive results in limiting these fires propagation. Some of the results of these tests performed by varying agencies showed positive results using products like F-500 in small scale battery fires with testing typically performed on small banks of batteries, typically not exceeding 2kW per cell.

Currently in the Australian market, products available are filled with a solution that contains water and & F-500ea at between 1-3% and these extinguishers are approved locally as water extinguishers. There are third party verification tests that have been undertaken with the product showing efficacy on batteries up to 4.8kW with total extinguishment being achieved.

Portable extinguishers are designed for use on small scale fires and where a large bank of multiple batteries or larger scale charging systems is identified, consideration should be given to a fixed firefighting solution.

As the industry and testing catches up with the technology, we are likely to see more and more products enter the market with claims of efficacy and it will be increasingly important to refer to testing and product approvals to find the right solution.

Joe Smith is General Manager at the National Fire Industry Association of Australia (NFIA), the Peak Body for Fire Protection in Australia.

 

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