Safely managing the use of lithium-ion batteries in energy storage systems (ESS) should be priority number one for the industry. In this exclusive Guest Blog, Johnson Controls’ industry relations fellow Alan Elder, with over four decades of experience in the field of gaseous fire suppression systems and Derek Sandahl, product manager for the company’s engineered fire suppression products, talk about the best ways to achieve prevention of fire incidents stemming from thermal runaway in lithium cells.
Safety is a consideration when it comes to any energy asset and lithium-ion batteries are no exception. Fires are rare, but do happen, particularly when you consider how much juice lithium storage systems can pack into a fairly small space. In this panel from the Energy Storage Summit 2021, experts including firefighter Charlie Pugsley of London Fire Brigade talk about the strategies stakeholders should be using today and in the future to ensure a safe industry for all.
The energy storage industry should be well prepared to deal with failure in lithium-ion battery systems so that thermal runaway in a single battery cell never becomes a fire or explosion.
The fire unit at global multinational engineering firm Honeywell made its first move into lithium-ion safety in recognition of battery storage’s “huge potential” for decarbonisation and to help the world move “in a more energy efficient way”, the company has said.
Honeywell is rolling out fire detection and safety technologies for lithium-ion batteries via its Building Technologies business unit, combining it with alternative energy innovation group Nexceris’ gas detection systems.
