Oxygen reduction approaches for fire protection to increase grid Li-ion BESS safety

Abstract

Li-ion battery is the most diffused technology among electrochemical energy storage systems. Installed capacity forecasts suggest a strong growth in the next years with renewable energy utilization to meet decarbonization purposes. Over 20 fire incidents in grid systems where reported during the last years in Korea and United States, with negative repercussions in market and social acceptance. Thermal runaway results as the recurring high impact failure effect. A novel concept to prevent Li-ion battery fires in grid installations could be represented by the realization of an oxygen-deficient atmosphere inside the containers. This novel approach is presented and discussed with reference to the framework of battery fire protection and the application of oxygen reduction.