Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are key to utility-scale, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs). They are a fundamental to the ongoing transition to more energy efficient, and smarter, power grids.
Without appropriate safety measures, Li-ion batteries can pose a serious fire risk: thermal runaway, an event that quickly escalates into a potentially destructive fire.
Existing fire safety standards and fire protection technologies are often not enough. They are designed to mitigate, rather than prevent fire, and are not designed to specifically detect the early signs of thermal runaway. This is where off-gas detection technology is important.
Off-gas detection keeps BESS's running more safely, helping operators stay on top of potential risks and operational concerns. It gives early detection designed to identify and alert when a battery off-gases so users can take appropriate preventative safety steps to reduce or even avoid the effects of thermal runaway. This allows power to continue to be delivered when it is needed.
The main safety concern when installing a lithium-ion battery system is that the battery will start to burn and the development of explosive and toxic gasses. When a battery is heated up, it can start an internal exothermic reaction called thermal runaway.
The image above summarizes the causes and consequences of thermal runaway. It often starts from an abuse mechanism that causes the internal temperature to rise such that the electrolyte is gasified, released and ignited. This fire might then ignite the electrodes, thus producing high temperature fires involving both liquids and gases. These fires are hard to extinguish and to cool down.
The off-gases in a lithium-ion battery is known to be flammable as well as toxic. This presents an explosion risk in enclosed spaces. Accurate understanding of the constituents of this gas is difficult as it depends on many variables. Often the test procedure can involve practices for measurement that may not be relevant for use as input to an evaluation of explosion potential.
The Solution
The Lithium-Ion Risk Prevention System, powered by LI-ION TAMER* technology, has been designed to proactively identify a lithium-ion battery failure before it reaches thermal runaway resulting in a major fire event.
Lithium-ion batteries can fail for a number of reasons including overcharging, over heating, excessive discharging and failure of battery management systems. The off-gassing of a lithium-ion battery occurs during the beginning stages of battery failure. Once a battery off-gasses, if no actions are taken to remove the failure mechanism, the battery will proceed to thermal runaway and burst into fire. Fortunately, if the lithium-ion battery off-gas event is detected, many batteries can be prevented from going into thermal runaway conditions.
Advantages of Lithium-Ion Fire Risk Prevention Systems
- Early warning of lithium-ion battery failures
- Response time of less than 5 seconds to lithium-ion gases
- Compatible with all lithium-ion battery configurations and
chemistries available today - Independent and redundant perspective on battery health
- Several communication protocols including digital outputs
and serial communication
Applications for the Lithium-Ion Fire Risk Prevention Systems
- Battery Energy Storage Systems
- Wind Farms
- Solar Farms
- Data Centres
- ESS
- Lithium-IonBattery Charging
- Battery Rooms
- Energy Storage Systems
- EV Charging Station Battery Storage
- Off Grid Energy Storage
- UPS
- CHP
- Bio-Energy
Why Choose us?
- Speedy response from your initial enquiry
- Highly qualified and friendly engineers on hand to answer any questions or queries you may have
- Quick and easy installation resulting in the tightest deadlines being achieved
About SolarFire Systems
We are known for our excellent customer service, our expertise, and our reliability.
For more information on how we can help your business email [email protected] or give us a call at 01628 902107.
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