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Experimental Study on the Combustion Characteristics of Primary Lithium Batteries Fire

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Abstract

The use of lithium batteries requires understanding their fire and explosion hazards. In this paper, a report is given on an experimental study of the combustion characteristics of primary lithium batteries. Burning tests of single and bundles of primary lithium batteries were conducted in a calorimeter to measure their heat release rates when exposed to an irradiance of 20 kW m−2. Several variables including time to ignition, mass loss, heat release rate and plume temperature were measured to evaluate the ignition and combustion characteristics. The burning batteries were observed to have flame temperatures in excess of 1,200°C and to release corrosive compounds. The experimental results show that the combustion efficiency, carbon dioxide yield and mass loss are proportional to the number of batteries in the bundle. The total heat released by battery bundles was deduced empirically to be proportional to the number of batteries with a power of 1.26. The results provide experimental basis for the development of fire protection measures during the use, storage and distribution of primary lithium batteries.

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Abbreviations

A :

Power factor

m :

Molecularity of CO2

n :

Number of batteries in a bundle

\( \dot{Q} \) :

Heat release rate (kW)

\( \dot{Q}_{n} \) :

Heat release rate of n number of batteries (kW)

Q n :

Energy released from n number of batteries (kJ)

\( \dot{Q}_{pk} \) :

Peak heat release rate (kW)

RH :

Relative humidity (%)

SOC:

State of charge (%)

T :

Temperature (°C)

T ∞ :

Ambient temperature (°C)

t :

Time (s)

t ig :

Time to ignition (s)

t ex :

Time to extinction (s)

W :

Fuel mass (g)

W a :

Ash mass (g)

W t :

Initial fuel mass (g)

W * :

Dimensionless mass loss

ΔH e :

Effective heat of combustion (kJ g−1)

ΔW :

Mass loss (g)

\( \varphi_{{{\text{CO}}_{ 2} /{\text{CO}}}} \) :

Ratio of mole fractions or volumetric concentrations of CO2 to CO

σ pk :

Standard deviation of peak \( \dot{Q}_{pk} \) (kW)

σ Q :

Standard deviation of energy released (kJ)

Subscripts:

max maximum or peak value

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51376172).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Mingyi Chen, Chuang De Zhou & Jian Wang

  2. School of Engineering, University of Western Sydney, South Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Yaping He

  3. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, People’s Republic of China

    Mingyi Chen & Yuen Richard

Authors
  1. Mingyi Chen
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  2. Yaping He
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  5. Jian Wang
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Correspondence to Jian Wang.

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Chen, M., He, Y., De Zhou, C. et al. Experimental Study on the Combustion Characteristics of Primary Lithium Batteries Fire. Fire Technol 52, 365–385 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-014-0450-1

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