RE: RE: bad news26 Nov 2019 21:13
It is believed that Lithium Ion battery fires are some of the most difficult fires to suppress. These batteries have high ‘power-to-density’ ratios that allow them to store large amounts of energy. When a Lithium Ion battery catches fire, it is the stored energy along with the materials in the battery that make it so difficult suppress or extinguish; it is classified as a Class-D fire.
Lithium Ion batteries can catch fire in two ways. (a) When it is exposed to an adjacent fire. (b) Due to a thermal runaway in the battery itself. Thermal runaways are caused by a manufacturing defect like an internal short-circuit or physical damage. When a Lithium Ion battery has a thermal runaway, the battery gets bloated and electrical shorts within the battery either start, or continue. The energy stored in the battery is released, often violently. This release of energy can cause adjacent battery cells to catch fire or thermally runaway as well.
According to LITHIUM safety and handling guidelines, Lithium burns in a normal atmosphere and reacts explosively with water to form Hydrogen. The presence of minute amounts of water may ignite the material and the Hydrogen gas. Lithium fires can also throw off highly reactive molten Lithium metal particles. Cells adjacent to any burning material could overheat and cause a violent explosion. Therefore all personnel in the area need to be evacuated.
For lithium fires, only a CLASS D COPPER POWDER EXTINGUISHER is recommended. The minimum equipment required includes eye-protection, respirator, rubber gloves, etc. If other combustibles nearby catch fire as well as a result of the lithium fire, then we need to use appropriate extinguishing agents to douse the secondary fires. Needless to mention, it is important to address each type of fire with the appropriate extinguishing.
Water should not be used on any lithium fire because pouring water on a lithium battery fire can make it more difficult to extinguish it because of the reduction of lithium in water, which leads to the release of hydrogen, which is highly flammable; the potential of reigniting a fire is much greater when using water. In case the appropriate Class-D extinguisher is not available, DRY SAND or even DRY TABLE SALT can be safely used to douse the fire.
Take Care!
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