Impact of Lithium Battery Vent Gas Ignition on Cargo Compartment Fire Protection

Details

• Creators:
  Maloney, Thomas
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Air Shipments Cargo Compartments Flammability Flammability Tests Lithium Batteries Thermal Runaway
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/TC-TN16/34
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center
• Abstract:
  One of the dangers of shipping lithium batteries in an aircraft is the risk of thermal runaway propagation, which can cause an uncontrollable fire in the cargo compartment. During thermal runaway, a significant quantity of hydrogen and hydrocarbons may accumulate and ignite in the shipping boxes and the free space within the cargo compartment. This can cause a pressure pulse sufficient to compromise the safety of the aircraft. With the pressure relief panels removed or the liner compromised, the compartment would no longer be able to fully contain the Halon 1301 fire extinguishing agent.
  
  A series of tests were conducted to determine the minimum quantity of 18650-sized battery cells required to produce a flammable gas mixture that, if ignited, would be capable of producing a pressure rise that would open pressure relief panels and possibly dislodge cargo liners. A mixture of bottled battery vent gas and air was metered into a balloon at a concentration that was previously shown to maximize the pressure rise of combustion. A spark igniter located within the balloon ignited the mixture. Validation tests were conducted to determine if the pressure rise from the combustion of the bottled battery gas mixture replicated the pressure rise of the actual vented battery gases. The results showed an identical pressure rise. Depending on the state of charge, the ignition of the vent gases from a relatively small number of lithium batteries in thermal runaway created a pressure pulse that dislodged the pressure relief panels in an aircraft cargo compartment.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  FAA Fire Safety FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2e71afec4503a8414c93a39ec56f57b80f4cd9e7202ebd60d1d69a2a82fcf197dcd27238a1ea16ff61d028517e68fed4db5cdd52fc1d56e3bcc8be72f92eb7c6
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/57859/dot_57859_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.63 MB ]