The configurability and endless practical use cases of lithium-ion batteries make them highly popular in many industries. Thanks to their high efficiency, impressive power to weight ratio and low self-discharge, it&#;s expected that the demand for lithium-ion batteries will increase by 7X globally between and .
Energyland contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.
These batteries have become so ubiquitous that many people forget the most important tenet of these batteries: they must always be treated like they might combust at any minute, particularly when no longer in normal use.
A damaged battery can cause a fault to be triggered, which is what often leads to fire. When a faulty battery is in storage and combusts, it may cause other batteries to ignite and releasing toxic, flammable vapours that make the fire incredibly challenging to manage. Lithium-ion battery fires can even reignite after being contained.
In this post, we&#;ll talk through the safe storage requirements for lithium-ion batteries that manage the risks to keep people and facilities safe.
Meeting Lithium Ion Battery Storage Safety Requirements
The UK doesn&#;t have specific regulations or legislation for the general storage of lithium-ion batteries. The Health and Safety Executive has, however, published guidance on good practices for handling and storing batteries, even though it is not compulsory.
Regulations are not prescriptive but instead follow the typical routes:
You must train employees to work with batteries
You must provide appropriate PPE for working with batteries
You must take fire safety precautions for the facility suitable for all rechargeable (including lithium-ion) batteries
You can find the HSE&#;s guidance for using electric storage batteries safely here. If you have complex battery needs or concerns, you can also work directly with the HSE, which can provide some battery testing methodologies.
Where new regulations do exist, they target the dedicated lithium-ion battery sites, which are developed for the purpose of storing batteries, not incidentally storing batteries as part of the course of business. These new regulations were brought in from a lack of support from the planning system as well as the recently published UK Battery Strategy, which will help the UK develop a world-leading battery supply chain and take advantage of the continued global demand for batteries. The new regulation also accepted consultation from England&#;s fire and rescue service (FRS) and also made FRSs statutory consultants for the planning application process for building new industrial lithium-ion battery storage facilities.
Essential Lithium-Ion Battery Storage System Features
Spontaneous lithium-ion fires rarely occur, but the risks associated with a fire are incredibly severe. The root cause of a short circuit in the battery can come from the cell design, temperature, storage period, state-of-charge, or chemistry. It is considered a risk to store the battery in the open or share a storage unit with anything combustible.
In general lithium-ion batteries should always be removed from the devices they power and stored at 60-70% of the pack&#;s capacity. If a battery will go unused for three more days, it should be stored in a cabinet or larger store.
Once disconnected, storing lithium-ion batteries follows similar principles as the correct storage of chemicals. The storage facility (e.g. a flammable storage cabinet) should be located away from heat and ignition sources and should offer:
Temperature control: Batteries can be used at temperatures between -20C to 60C, but it&#;s important to avoid reaching temperatures at the end of those ranges.
Ventilation systems: Disperse hot air and keep closed to prevent fumes in case of a fire
.
Adequate space: Batteries should be stored on shelving and should not be stacked or allowed to touch each other.
Fire detection and fire suppression systems.
For more Rack Lithium Batteryinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
Safety Storage offers lithium-ion battery stores and cabinets offer 90 minutes of fire protection with secure, lockable doors and self-sealing vents, which handle the highly-flammable vapours that can cause a battery fire to burn out of control. You also have the option to add fire detection systems and fire extinguishers to the cabinets. Stores and cabinets can be manufactured in non-standard sizes to suit your storage area or the quantity or type of batteries on your premises.
Emergency Preparedness for Battery Fires
Emergency preparedness for lithium-ion batteries must incorporate training on what to do if a battery:
becomes obviously damaged
malfunctions (overheats or explodes)
combusts to cause a small or large fire
Treating the damage to a battery as an emergency is essential in preventing a future fire. As a general rule, if a worker is ever concerned about a battery, they should notify their designated Workplace Health and Safety Officer immediately and then notify emergency services where appropriate.
Battery damage may or may not be visible to user, but you can consider a battery damaged in the following circumstances:
falls from a height of 12&#; or higher
experiences a crash at 20mph
gets punctured by a sharp object
overheats and expands
Additionally all staff should be trained in what to do if a lithium-ion battery fire breaks out. Facilities teams should make themselves aware of the UK Fire Industry Association&#;s guidance on Lithium Ion Battery Fires and provide relevant training.
Discuss Your Lithium Ion Storage Needs with Custom Battery Supplier
Do you have the storage capacity you need to safely store your batteries? The experts at Safety Storage are not only experts in chemical storage but also offer pioneering products for battery storage.
Get in touch to discuss your facility&#;s needs and learn more about how a custom storage system can help you maintain compliance with safety standards.
Why you should not charge your lithium-ion battery before storing it
Today, battery technology uses lithium-ion as standard, and these cells experience negligible levels of self-discharge. To protect cells from over-discharge a lithium-ion battery is usually built with separate integrated fuses that can automatically switch a highly discharged battery to a rest state so they don't need to be fully charged before storage. In fact, lithium-ion battery life is extended if it goes into storage partly charged &#; that said, it&#;s worth remembering that cells are negatively impacted in the event of storage with a very low level of charge or if the battery is fully charged. We recommend that you store a lithium-ion battery with two lit LEDs, indicating a charge of 40-60%, to minimise ageing and self-discharge.
Outdated battery technologies have high self-discharge
Older battery types such as nickel-cadmium batteries (NiCd) or lead batteries used in motor vehicles have high self-discharge rates, and so if a battery has not been used for a long time, it may be prone to over-discharge. This is when the battery charge level falls below the cut-off voltage. When this happens energy can no longer be supplied and the battery may fail to charge. That&#;s why battery care advice used to specify fully charging before any lengthy storage period, as well as regularly checking the remaining charge.
Cutting-edge lithium-ion battery technology protects against over-discharge
STIHL batteries rely on lithium-ion cells and feature exceptionally low self-discharge rates of just 1-3% per year of storage. In addition, all STIHL batteries include an intelligent battery management system known as BMS. This monitors the voltage in each cell integrated into a battery, and in doing so prevents over-discharge: if voltage in the lithium-ion battery cells falls too far, the battery automatically switches to rest state, and the discharge process is interrupted.
This also happens during lithium-ion battery storage and when unused for long periods, meaning that you no longer need to worry about your battery being damaged by over-discharge.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Lithium Battery.
Comments
All Comments (0)