The constantly increasing number of lithium-ion batteries in many industries and applications poses major challenges for logistics. The risk of spontaneous combustion of these powerful energy sources is high and plays a particularly significant role in storage.
Dirk Band, Head of Sales at the fire protection specialist WAGNER, is an expert in technical fire protection in logistics. To highlight the challenges and demonstrate solutions for fire protection, he will give a lecture on January 25th at 9:50 a.m. at the Lithium Batteries Conference in Göttingen entitled ‘Lithium batteries in high-bay warehouses: risk minimization through oxygen reduction’.
Mobile medical devices
Lithium-ion batteries have become an indispensable part of many areas of life: in notebooks, for example, they serve a good purpose in both business and private life. They encourage people to change their mobility habits, switch from cars to e-bikes and thereby do something for themselves and for the environment.
And the compact energy storage devices can even save lives when used in mobile medical devices
And the compact energy storage devices can even save lives when used in mobile medical devices. However, they pose a challenge for logistics. Fires in lithium-ion batteries have now become established as a typical type of damage for insurers; the technology-inherent risk of thermal runaways or spontaneous combustion is always present and should not be underestimated.
Major ecological impact
Dirk Band points out: "Have you ever seen how quickly a fire can trigger a chain reaction? If so, you will have a rough idea of how great the extent of the damage can be, for example in a high-bay warehouse with narrow aisles and compact storage of lithium-ion batteries.”
“Within a very short time, enormous amounts of value can be destroyed and people can be put in danger. The pollutants produced can have a major ecological impact. Fires of this kind can mean economic bankruptcy for companies. This shows that every single fire is one too many - also because of the secondary damage that occurs."
Automated storage environments
In automated storage environments with dense storage, it is therefore very important to prevent fires from occurring in the first place. "At WAGNER, we have developed OxyReduct ®, a system for active fire prevention.”
“The oxygen reduction generated by this system in the protected area can prevent fires or reduce the spread of fire under defined conditions. Projects involving lithium-ion batteries must of course always be considered individually. Through a large number of fire tests, we have been able to determine that OxyReduct ® can be part of a solution for storing these batteries."
Important protection goal
The solution is characterized by the creation of a protective atmosphere with a reduced oxygen content
One example of this is a high-bay warehouse belonging to KETTLER Alu-Rad GmbH. Thanks to the reduction in oxygen, the bicycle manufacturer's most important protection goal for the new high-bay warehouse was achieved, namely to limit the damage in the event of a thermal runaway to the one affected bicycle and to avoid chain reactions.
In specific fire tests, the specialists determined which measures should be taken to achieve the protection goals in this case. The solution is characterized by the creation of a protective atmosphere with a reduced oxygen content, supplemented by a system for early fire detection and defined storage of the boxes on the shelves.
Lithium battery conference
"With this holistic and individual fire protection solution, we have reduced the risk of serious fire damage to a minimum. Inventory, employees, property and the environment are protected, and delivery capability is maintained. Fire hazard? Only to an extremely small extent."
On January 25, Dirk Band will give participants of the lithium battery conference an even deeper insight into this individual fire protection solution for lithium-ion batteries.
