Extinguishing agents for battery fires / burning lithium-ion batteries
In particular defective or damaged lithium-ion batteries (short Li-ion batteries) and lithium polymer batteries (short LiPo batteries) pose a significant source of danger due to their composition and stored energy, which can lead to a battery fire. Burning Li-ion batteries are difficult or impossible to fight with common extinguishing agents such as water, CO2, foam, or powder. Accordingly, in recent years, special extinguishing agents have been developed to combat battery fires in a fast and safe way, for example when extinguishing e-bike batteries.
Genius PyroBubbles® - an extinguishing agent for acute firefighting and filler during transport
PyroBubbles® from Genius are a novel extinguishing agent based on silicon dioxide, developed specifically for the challenges of burning lithium batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
Extinguishing battery fires with Genius PyroBubbles®
PyroBubbles® are temperature resistant up to approximately 700°C. If a lithium-ion battery catches fire, high temperatures develop and the granulate melts, forming a closed and thermally insulating layer around the ignition source (Li-ion battery or LiPo battery). The ignition source is deprived of oxygen, while thanks to the porous structure of PyroBubbles® additional reaction gases are reduced. In addition, the PyroBubbles® shield flammable material outside the active fire source due to their low thermal conductivity. In addition to fires of lithium-ion batteries / lithium-ion cells, Genius PyroBubbles® are also suitable for extinguishing metal fires.
Please note: Active battery firefighting with Pyrobubbles requires a special fire protection design.
Fire prevention with PyroBubbles® from Genius
In addition to combating burning Li-ion and LiPo batteries, PyroBubbles® are also used as a filler in transit containers for lithium batteries and lithium-ion batteries. Especially during transport of damaged batteries problems can arise quickly, and then PyroBubbles® function as an extinguishing agent and the battery fire is fought directly inside the transport container, so that it does not endanger the surroundings. By default, PyroBubbles® extinguishing agents are used, for example in Lio Guard transport containers, but can of course also be used in battery transport containers of other series or manufacturers.
Properties of PyroBubbles® as an extinguishing agent
Genius PyroBubbles® are an ideal extinguishing agent for lithium-ion batteries and are suitable for flammable substances of fire class D. The grain size is on average 2 to 6 mm. The extinguishing agent is water-repellent and age-stable, so that PyroBubbles from Genius still have their protective and extinguishing effect even after longer storage.
Special extinguishers for battery fires
The classic extinguishers with CO2, powder or foam show only limited effectiveness when lithium batteries or LiPo batteries catch fire. Accordingly, extinguishers for lithium-ion batteries are usually filled with different extinguishing agents to perfectly meet the requirements of a battery fire.
Fire extinguishers for Li-ion batteries with extinguishing agent Lithium-X
The extinguishing agent Lithium-X can be used in extinguishers for A-class and D-class fires, and especially against fires of lithium-ion batteries and LiPo batteries. Other metal fires are also effectively cooled by the lithium-ion fire extinguishers, preventing uncontrolled spread of the battery fire. The extinguishing agent is a aqueous dispersion in which natural silicon crystals are held in suspension in an aqueous solution. By spraying onto burning metal or accordingly burning lithium batteries, the water evaporates, the silicon plates swell and fuse into an impermeable barrier layer.
Gel fire extinguishers with Water-Glue as the extinguishing agent
The gel fire extinguishers for battery fires work with a gel-like extinguishing agent that can be used for Class A fires and burning lithium-ion batteries / LiPo batteries. The direct cooling effect of the gel and the high heat capacity ensure that heat is drawn away from the burning Li-ion battery under an oxygen-deprived environment. The gel extinguishers with Water-Glue as the extinguishing agent are primarily used for smaller, less powerful batteries, e.g., for extinguishing e-bike batteries, LiPo batteries from model making, etc.
Fire extinguishers with Pyrobubbles as extinguishing agent
Not only gel- or silicon-based extinguishers are common for extinguishing batteries; Pyrobubbles can also be used as an active extinguishing agent. The Pyrobubbles extinguishing granulate developed by Genius is primarily used during the transport of Li-ion batteries, e.g., as a passive extinguishing agent in the battery transport containers. In specially designed extinguishers, Pyrobubbles are also used to actively extinguish battery and cell fires.
