Reflections on the major fire accident at a lithium battery plant in South Korea
DATE:2024-06-26
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Similar frequent lithium battery fire accidents, once again to all people sounded the alarm, which is related to the safety of everyone's life and property, our country in June this year's "Work Safety Month" activity theme is "everyone to talk about safety, each will be emergency - - Open the life channel". The theme of this year's June "Work Safety Month" activities is "everyone talk about safety, each will emergency - smooth life channels. Then, with our life, production is closely related to the "safety" two words must always keep in mind, we need to understand some of the relevant knowledge and principles, and as a precautionary measure, to prevent problems before they occur.
Studies have shown that in extreme temperatures (including high and low temperatures), lithium-ion batteries are prone to "thermal runaway" phenomenon, and in the charging and discharging process will produce a large amount of heat and buildup, these buildup will affect its service life and may lead to an explosion or fire accident. Battery thermal management system (BTMS), as a key technology to prevent overheating of Li-ion batteries, has been highly emphasized in academia and industry. For more information, please refer to the article "Advances in thermal management of lithium batteries based on immersion liquid cooling" in Issue 2, 2024 of this journal, which provides a very detailed introduction to this principle.
When "thermal runaway" occurs, lithium batteries are mainly characterized by smoke and fire, the decomposition of materials within the battery exothermic, when the temperature and pressure within the battery reaches the limit value, it will break through the battery pack packaging system and then produce an explosion. The causes of lithium battery fire and explosion usually have 6 categories: 1) mechanical abuse (collision, extrusion, pinprick, etc.); 2) electrical abuse (overcharging, low-temperature fast charging, etc.); 3) thermal abuse (heating, sun exposure, high temperature, etc.); 4) chemical and material abuse (purity, material selection, etc.); 5) design and process abuse (structure, process improper, etc.); 6) manufacturing and environmental abuse (processing precision, dust, etc.).
Know its cause, solve its effect, and target prevention and control. At present, the prevention and control measures for lithium battery fire or explosion include: 1) improve the quality of the battery; 2) installation of fire warning, alarm, fire extinguishing and emergency evacuation systems; 3) strengthen the safe use of batteries and management and maintenance; 4) response measures in the event of fire.
Especially for lithium battery manufacturers, the countermeasures for preventing and fighting fires are: 1) establish a long-term effective safety system and strictly follow the operating procedures; 2) regularly check electrical equipment to ensure the normal and stable operation of the equipment; 3) improve the fire fighting facilities; 4) standardize the design and construction of the workshop plant; 5) strengthen the fire fighting training and rehearsals; 6) strengthen the fire safety inspections; and 7) make good preparations for emergencies .
At present, China as a global lithium battery production of one of the three giants (China, South Korea, Japan) leader in the production and application of lithium batteries are ahead of other countries, with the rapid development of electric vehicles and energy storage industry, to solve the problem of lithium battery production and use of safety has long been an urgent need and the top priority, but the domestic production and use of lithium batteries on the safety aspects of the misunderstanding still exists, the investment in fire safety facilities, although the efforts of the There are hidden dangers. With the lithium battery enterprise plant design and construction of closely related to the preparation of specifications urgently need experienced experts to participate in the current part of the experts by the influence of inertia thinking, the battery fire is not enough to understand; in the fire extinguishing and rescue mechanism, but also the need to systematically and comprehensively summarize the experience of similar accidents at home and abroad and lessons learned, the development of effective mechanisms and systematic training, and can be quickly put into practice; in the lithium battery fire experimental research, did not do a complete simulation of the fire safety facilities. In the lithium battery fire experimental research, did not do a complete simulation, and the experimental design and conclusions of logical problems, easy to cause misleading. The South Korean lithium battery manufacturers of major fire accidents once again caused widespread concern at home and abroad, we must be vigilant in terms of production safety, as a member of the general public need to understand its related safety science and general knowledge, while as a member of the industry, the need for a wide range of in-depth continuous research and scientific practice, with the sole purpose of trying to prevent similar accidents from occurring, safe production, proactive prevention and control, and to take precautions. Saving for a rainy day is good for the country and the people.
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Studies have shown that in extreme temperatures (including high and low temperatures), lithium-ion batteries are prone to "thermal runaway" phenomenon, and in the charging and discharging process will produce a large amount of heat and buildup, these buildup will affect its service life and may lead to an explosion or fire accident. Battery thermal management system (BTMS), as a key technology to prevent overheating of Li-ion batteries, has been highly emphasized in academia and industry. For more information, please refer to the article "Advances in thermal management of lithium batteries based on immersion liquid cooling" in Issue 2, 2024 of this journal, which provides a very detailed introduction to this principle.
When "thermal runaway" occurs, lithium batteries are mainly characterized by smoke and fire, the decomposition of materials within the battery exothermic, when the temperature and pressure within the battery reaches the limit value, it will break through the battery pack packaging system and then produce an explosion. The causes of lithium battery fire and explosion usually have 6 categories: 1) mechanical abuse (collision, extrusion, pinprick, etc.); 2) electrical abuse (overcharging, low-temperature fast charging, etc.); 3) thermal abuse (heating, sun exposure, high temperature, etc.); 4) chemical and material abuse (purity, material selection, etc.); 5) design and process abuse (structure, process improper, etc.); 6) manufacturing and environmental abuse (processing precision, dust, etc.).
Know its cause, solve its effect, and target prevention and control. At present, the prevention and control measures for lithium battery fire or explosion include: 1) improve the quality of the battery; 2) installation of fire warning, alarm, fire extinguishing and emergency evacuation systems; 3) strengthen the safe use of batteries and management and maintenance; 4) response measures in the event of fire.
Especially for lithium battery manufacturers, the countermeasures for preventing and fighting fires are: 1) establish a long-term effective safety system and strictly follow the operating procedures; 2) regularly check electrical equipment to ensure the normal and stable operation of the equipment; 3) improve the fire fighting facilities; 4) standardize the design and construction of the workshop plant; 5) strengthen the fire fighting training and rehearsals; 6) strengthen the fire safety inspections; and 7) make good preparations for emergencies .
At present, China as a global lithium battery production of one of the three giants (China, South Korea, Japan) leader in the production and application of lithium batteries are ahead of other countries, with the rapid development of electric vehicles and energy storage industry, to solve the problem of lithium battery production and use of safety has long been an urgent need and the top priority, but the domestic production and use of lithium batteries on the safety aspects of the misunderstanding still exists, the investment in fire safety facilities, although the efforts of the There are hidden dangers. With the lithium battery enterprise plant design and construction of closely related to the preparation of specifications urgently need experienced experts to participate in the current part of the experts by the influence of inertia thinking, the battery fire is not enough to understand; in the fire extinguishing and rescue mechanism, but also the need to systematically and comprehensively summarize the experience of similar accidents at home and abroad and lessons learned, the development of effective mechanisms and systematic training, and can be quickly put into practice; in the lithium battery fire experimental research, did not do a complete simulation of the fire safety facilities. In the lithium battery fire experimental research, did not do a complete simulation, and the experimental design and conclusions of logical problems, easy to cause misleading. The South Korean lithium battery manufacturers of major fire accidents once again caused widespread concern at home and abroad, we must be vigilant in terms of production safety, as a member of the general public need to understand its related safety science and general knowledge, while as a member of the industry, the need for a wide range of in-depth continuous research and scientific practice, with the sole purpose of trying to prevent similar accidents from occurring, safe production, proactive prevention and control, and to take precautions. Saving for a rainy day is good for the country and the people.