Suppression behavior of water mist containing compound additives on lithium-ion batteries fire

Abstract

In this work, a new type of compound additive and water mist compatible fire extinguishing method was designed, and the effects of its suppression on a 18650 LiMn2O4/Li(Ni0.5Co0.2Mn0.3)O2 lithium-ion battery fire was investigated. To do so, a self-designed experimental platform was used to study the fire extinguishing capabilities and influence of the composite additives containing water mist on a lithium-ion battery fire. Several cell parameters were measured to evaluate the suppression effect of the fire extinguishing method, such as extinguishing time, maximum temperature, and heat release rate. The results show that both physical and chemical additives can play significant physicochemical roles in extinguishing fires and are more effective than pure water mist. The physical additives enhance the heat absorption and cooling as well as radiation heat barrier and oxygen asphyxiation mechanisms by reducing the surface tension and droplet size in the fog field. Furthermore, the chemical additives enhance the fire extinguishing efficiency by decomposing the active gases CO2 and H2O in the fire field and capturing the free radicals of the flame in the battery combustion reaction.