The WAGNER Group GmbH from Langenhagen near Hanover is one of the leading companies in fire protection. It has now been awarded for a fire protection solution that addresses a very current topic: the storage of lithium-ion batteries.
When voted Product of the Year in the Logistics & Transport category, the certified and globally unique solution convinced the specialist audience from the logistics industry: It won second prize in the award from the specialist magazine for intralogistics and logistics, materialfluss.
holistic fire protection solution
The laudatory speech at the award ceremony on May 2, 2023, in Haar near Munich recognized WAGNER's holistic fire protection solution: The company has developed a solution that protects a high-bay warehouse for e-bikes equipped with lithium-ion batteries from the spread of fire, thus creating safety for assets, personnel and the environment.
Due to the technology used in lithium-ion batteries, a fire can break out at any time due to a thermal runaway - a fact that clearly shows how important a specific fire protection system is.
lithium-ion technology
"We are delighted that, through our innovative spirit and expertise, we have developed a solution that represents a milestone for the safety of storing lithium-ion technology in automated warehouses."
"We are even more pleased that logistics experts also see it this way and that we were awarded second prize. At the same time, this is an incentive to continue to focus on our innovation work and to produce solutions that always meet the needs of future technologies," explains Steffen Springer, Managing Director of WAGNER Group GmbH.
The excellent solution
Lithium-ion technology is omnipresent as a mobile energy storage device - in e-mobility, cell phones
Lithium-ion technology is omnipresent as a mobile energy storage device - in e-mobility, cell phones, or cordless tools, for example. Accordingly, the batteries are often found as stock items in various warehouses. The batteries, with their specific fire hazards, place special demands on safety in the warehouse and thus on the fire protection systems.
Property insurers classify them as hazardous goods due to the possibility of spontaneous combustion due to thermal runaway. The development of specific fire protection solutions for the storage of lithium-ion batteries is therefore a highly topical issue.
lithium-ion battery storage
WAGNER implemented this individual fire protection solution for the fully automated high-bay warehouse of KETTLER Alu-Rad GmbH, in which up to 50,000 e-bikes can be packed ready for shipping, and stored with installed batteries.
It reduces the risk of the consequences of a thermal runaway as much as possible. With the help of fire tests, the experts at WAGNER have developed a special VdS-tested fire protection solution for the storage of lithium-ion batteries. Specific factors such as the packaging material, the type of storage, and, in particular, the charge level of the batteries were considered individually.
OxyReduct® oxygen reduction system
TITANUS® early fire detection system, which detects the source of fire 2,000 times earlier
The solution consists of the OxyReduct® oxygen reduction system, which largely reduces the risk of fire starting and spreading by creating a protective atmosphere in the protected area, and the TITANUS ® early fire detection system, which detects the source of a fire 2,000 times earlier than conventional point detectors in the event of a thermal runaway of the batteries.
Since spontaneous combustion of the batteries can never be ruled out, a defined distance between the bicycles stored in boxes ensures that a fire cannot spread and the extent of damage to assets and processes is limited as far as possible.
VdS-tested fire protection solution
"Fire protection is a fundamental part of logistics. The fact that our solution is among the top candidates in such a high-caliber field shows the relevance of both the topic and our solution."
"We would also like to congratulate the other applicants for the award on their outstanding products, which will be of crucial importance for the logistics industry in the future," said Steffen Springer after the award ceremony.
