Lithium Batteries Are Set to Power the World--and Pose New Fire Risks -WSJ

[Caribbeans]

A firefighter stood at the site of a deadly fire at a lithium-battery factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday

Lithium Batteries Are Set to Power the World—and Pose New Fire Risks

The latest incident involved a South Korean blaze that killed workers at a factory making batteries for smart cities and military equipment

Wall Street Journal | Jiyoung Sohn | June 25, 2024

SEOUL—To the makers of smartphones, power grids and electric vehicles, lithium—the lightest metal—allows batteries to become supercharged, underpinning hopes for a greener economy and longer-lasting devices.
But the very traits that make lithium game changing for energy storage can pose overpowering challenges should the batteries ever catch fire. Incidents involving lithium-battery fires are becoming more common around the world, raising safety concerns.

Water isn’t always an effective combatant for certain types of lithium-battery fires, leaving little option other than waiting things out or using costly suppressants, firefighting experts say. Combating fires involving lithium-batteries can be difficult due to the emission of toxic gases. Then there is the heat: the lithium produces searing temperatures more akin to a welding torch than a typical blaze, capable of slicing through protective gear or an extremity.

The world saw the risks of lithium-battery fires on Monday in South Korea, where at least 23 workers died in one of the country’s worst industrial accidents in recent memory. Local investigators are still determining the blaze’s exact cause. Some 35,000 battery cells were thought to have been stored on-site—and video footage of the fire showed occasional flashes that produced thunderous booms like a detonated bomb.


Emergency personnel carried the body of a person killed in the deadly fire at the factory in Hwaseong on Monday.

Battery fires are a growing concern for firefighters worldwide, prompting calls for regulation and public-education campaigns. So-called “lithium-ion” batteries are rechargeable and widely used in smartphones, PCs and EVs—and are the subject of the bulk of such fires, often due to overheating. But the South Korean factory fire involved “primary lithium” batteries that aren’t rechargeable and are typically used in smart-grid electricity networks and military equipment.

For instance, extinguishing a lithium-ion battery fire for an EV takes longer and about three times as much water than a regular vehicle, on top of the exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, said Greg McConville, the national secretary of the United Firefighters Union of Australia. The fire’s ignition is more intense than an oxy-acetylene torch, which can be roughly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or more, or about five times hotter than many house fires...more
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/lithium-batteries-are-set-to-power-the-worldand-pose-new-fire-risks-6ac07247
PW: archive.is/QLCdv

Lots of talk about hooking up expired $15-25,000 LI-Ion battery packs to houses (every single car battery will become useless for cars regardless of miles driven after 10-15 years) . At the least, homeowners insurance companies will require inspection and certification and probably an increase to the yearly bill. It's not like you can throw a used battery pack in the back of a pickup truck (they weigh 1200 pounds or more). Recycling costs a lot of energy and money. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/battery-discussion.40/

BU-705a: Battery Recycling as a Business
Knowing that billions of Li-ion batteries are discarded every year and given the high cost of lithium cobalt oxide, salvaging precious metals should make economic sense and one wonders why so few companies recycle these batteries.

The reason becomes clear when examining the complexity and low yield of recycling. The retrieved raw material barely pays for labor, which includes collection, transport, sorting into batteries chemistries, shredding, separation of metallic and non-metallic materials, neutralizing hazardous substances, smelting, and purification of the recovered metals...more https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-705a-battery-recycling-as-a-business

Batteries Batteries Batteries EVERYWHERE and every single one has a limited lifespan. How "green" is that really?

[wolfie001]

1. This is amazingly scary and effed up

1200 lb batteries? WTF? Too expensive to recycle?

[Docy]

2. Lithium Batteries Are Set to Power the World--and Pose New Fire Risks -WSJ

Every time I see this kind of news, I feel heartbroken. They are all living, breathing lives.

However, the basic material properties of batteries determine their inherent flammable and explosive properties. There is no completely safe battery at present. But we cannot not use it just because of this risk.

Now some Chinese companies and institutions have successfully developed highly safe lithium batteries through technological innovation. These batteries can avoid explosion or fire in the face of extreme conditions. For example, by setting a special interlayer inside the battery, when the temperature inside the battery rises rapidly or a short circuit occurs, the interlayer can decompose to form a barrier that electrons cannot pass through, thereby preventing the battery from exploding.

Some companies have also developed solid-state lithium/sodium-ion batteries. This battery uses solid electrolytes instead of traditional organic electrolytes, which further improves the safety and performance of the battery, and can remain safe even under severe external impact or high temperature conditions.

Although these technologies and products have greatly improved the safety of lithium batteries, no battery can be absolutely safe at present. ?But the future is promising.