Li-ion battery Energy Storage Systems are quickly becoming the most common type of electrochemical energy store for land and marine applications, and the use of the technology is continuously expanding.

From fire safety point of view, Li-ion batteries have created a whole new challenge as they behave in a fundamentally different way in fire conditions than other commonly used fuels. The most notable and unique risk is the so-called thermal runaway. The impact of a thermal runaway depends on several factors, the most important being battery chemistry, state of charge and individual cell energy. A thermal runaway sequence inside a battery cannot be stopped by any external firefighting means and a realistic objective is to limit the fire spread within or close to the affected battery only.  Fire protection measures for Li-ion batteries include passive and active options. As the use of the technology has rapidly become widespread the standard development is lacking behind a common fire test protocol for testing fire protection systems is yet to be developed. This has forced firefighting system manufacturers to conduct project specific testing. A research project lead by DNV evaluated the capabilities of various fire suppression and extinguishing systems with respect to Li-ion battery fires. The tests indicated that the HI-FOG high pressure water mist system provided good heat mitigation at module level in addition to providing full battery space protection from external fires. It also demonstrated good gas absorption and gas temperature reduction capabilities. The conclusions of the report are backed up by fire tests conducted with the Marioff HI-FOG high pressure water mist system against various scenarios involving thermal runaway in Li-ion batteries.

Audience participating in this session will learn:

• the basic principles of water mist fire fighting
• special considerations regarding Li-ion battery fires
• the current state of standards regarding Li-ion battery fires
• the benefits of the HI-FOG high pressure water mist system on suppressing Li-ion battery fires