How to extinguish Lithium-Ion Batteries?
With the increasing prevalence of powerful Li-Ion batteries, the topic of fire fighting is coming more into focus in discussions. In addition to the numerous advantages of lithium batteries, mobile energy storage devices pose a number of dangers up to fire or explosion. The quicker and more targeted fire suppression of lithium-ion batteries is all the more important if problems occur. In the best case, proper safe storage of Li-Ion batteries prevents a fire from starting in the first place. If a battery fire does occur, the following measures are recommended.
Table of contents
- Basic information on extinguishing lithium-ion batteries
- Suitable fire extinguishers for extinguishing battery fires
- Fire blankets for batteries - easy to use and ideal for containment
- Special measures for extinguishing by battery type
Basic information on extinguishing lithium-ion batteries
Li-Ion batteries are an integral part of everyday life, with a wide range of different types, especially regarding storage capacity and thus potential risks and difficulties when extinguishing the batteries. From small batteries, e.g., in electric toothbrushes or a mobile phone, to household appliance and e-bike batteries, up to high-performance Li-Ion batteries used as storage for PV systems or in electric cars. In general, extinguishing a battery becomes more difficult with increasing capacity, so for example a mobile phone battery may still be efficiently extinguished with a battery fire extinguisher, but if the storage battery of a PV system, a plug-in hybrid or a pure electric car starts to burn, the same battery fire extinguisher is often just a drop in the bucket. Prevention is therefore all the more important, i.e., storing the battery properly and safely and handling it only as recommended by the manufacturers. There are, for example, tips on storing e-bike batteries and general information on correct battery storage. Very importantly: Always call the fire brigade if a battery catches fire!
Quick action is important to extinguish the battery
Particularly important when extinguishing any type of battery is quick action. With targeted and rapid measures against the battery fire, one can often prevent the uncontrolled spread of the thermal reaction. Then the fire of the lithium-ion battery can, in the best case, be limited to a few cells, and spreading to all cells of a lithium battery within a chain reaction is prevented. This can be achieved, for example, by initiating initial measures with battery extinguishers or – especially with high-power batteries – by using special fire blankets that at least contain the sources of danger and bridge the time until professional help arrives.
Notify the fire department
Due to the possible dangers in a battery fire, the fire department should generally be involved to extinguish it. Even seemingly small battery fires, e.g., from an e-bike battery, can reach dangerous extents (up to the explosion of the e-bike battery), which only professional fire-fighters with due caution can handle. Of course, you can also take initial measures to extinguish the Li-Ion battery here, but the fire department should be alerted independently of that.
Suitable fire extinguishers for extinguishing battery fires
The choice of extinguishing medium has a decisive influence on the success of extinguishing a burning battery. Traditional extinguishing agents such as CO2, powder, or normal foam, as often found in extinguishers, are only very limitedly suitable for fighting battery fires. Significantly better are specialized extinguishers developed for battery fires, which allow fast and efficient action against impending dangers from burning batteries. Predominantly, Gel extinguishers, LithiumX extinguishers, and extinguishers with Pyrobubbles have proven to be very effective. At the same time, these extinguishing media can be used by private individuals without problems, so that smaller battery fires can be fought quickly.
Gel extinguishers – ideal for small and medium Li-Ion batteries
Gel extinguishers use a so-called Water-Glue as the extinguishing medium and are ideal for extinguishing smaller, less powerful batteries. For example, they are often kept by private individuals to be ready for extinguishing e-bike batteries. They are easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and available in a wide range, so with gel extinguishers you have the perfect first measure for a battery fire.
Lithium-X extinguishers for fighting battery fires
If larger Li-Ion or LiPo batteries catch fire, gel extinguishers are usually not enough to prevent a thermal runaway. For these cases, so-called Lithium-X extinguishers / silicon extinguishers have been developed, which use a watery dispersion of silicon crystals as the extinguishing medium. By spraying this extinguishing agent onto burning lithium batteries, the water evaporates. The microscopic silicon plates swell and fuse into an impermeable barrier. For fire fighting and especially to prevent the chain reaction, the thermal radiation above the barrier is immediately reduced to below 100°C, preventing or slowing down spread (Thermal Runway).
Water extinguishers with IMPREX C for cooling the batteries
With the WKL-PRO series, the manufacturer Gloria – one of the leading manufacturers in the field of fire fighting and extinguishers in Germany – has specially developed water extinguishers in its range that are suitable for fighting battery fires. The water in combination with the additive IMPREX C is primarily used for cooling Li-Ion batteries and reduces damage from spread to the surroundings.
Active fire suppression of Li-Ion batteries with Pyrobubbles
Besides Water-Glue and LithiumX (or silicon), there is Pyrobubbles as an extinguishing agent for fighting lithium-ion battery fires. Pyrobubbles are often used during the transport of Li-Ion batteries, for example as extinguishing granulate in battery transport containers. There are also special extinguishers for Pyrobubbles that are used directly at burning Li-Ion batteries and thus provide maximum safety when handling intact as well as defective lithium batteries and enable rapid and efficient fire suppression.
Fire blankets for batteries - easy to use and ideal for containment
While the extinguishers for batteries mentioned above are used primarily for smaller and medium-sized batteries, they quickly reach their limits with high-performance batteries. But these batteries are also increasingly used in everyday life, for example in plug-in hybrid vehicles or electric cars. If there is a problem with the battery there, a fire extinguisher basically has no effect, and one must immediately call the fire department. On the other hand, private individuals can still take very effective measures to minimize potential damage from a fire in an electric car. It should always be noted that extinguishing or even attempting to contain a battery fire can carry great hazards.
Fire blankets in many sizes for different battery types
Fire blankets for Li-Ion batteries come in a wide range of sizes and configurations – starting with the Lithium Fire Blankets with a size of 1.80 m x 1.8 m that can be used by one person and pulled directly over the burning battery. The fire-resistant material then isolates the fire source, minimizing damage. Special fire blankets for electric cars are specifically designed so that fires in electric cars can be contained. Due to dimensions of 6x8m, these blankets can only be used by two people and are used especially by fire departments.
Special measures for extinguishing by battery type
The measures listed above are general recommendations for initial actions and extinguishing media for fighting burning lithium-ion batteries. In addition, there are special tips and notes for different battery types on what to do in case of a fire, e.g., for e-bike batteries, the LiPo batteries widely used in model building, and more. Information on fire fighting or how to extinguish fires of these batteries can be found on the following pages: