What should we do if a lithium-ion battery with NMP solvent involved in the preparation process catches fire? | ZOLSEM

Lithium-ion batteries were containing NMP solvent involved in the preparation process catch fire, which is the biggest safety problem at present. If the purity of the NMP solvent is insufficient, or the coating is not uniform, the performance of the finished lithium-ion battery will be unstable, and the safety test will not be passed. Even though some lithium-ion batteries pass safety tests, sometimes they still were fired during use. At this time, how to deal with it?

Edit finds a professional way to handle it like this:

1. First cut off the power;

2. Use a dry powder or carbon dioxide fire extinguisher and spray at the base of the flame. Usually after doing this, the flame is extinguished, but the battery is still smoking.

3. Since Lithium batteries will reburn, it is important to cool the battery down with plenty of water.

4. The best way to move the burning battery outside, or evacuate the crowd to a safe place, and call the fire fighters to deal with it. In order to prevent the lithium battery from exploding and causing more damage.

5. Lithium batteries will release toxic gases when burned, so wear protective masks, rubber gloves, etc. as much as possible. It is recommended to leave it to a professional people.

Why use a dry powder or carbon dioxide fire extinguisher? Because lithium batteries are electrical components, the use of these two fire extinguishers can minimize the damage of lithium batteries.

The dry powder fire extinguisher is a dry powder fire extinguishing agent such as inorganic salt-ammonium phosphate salt, which can effectively extinguish the fire. The liquid carbon dioxide substance contained in the carbon dioxide fire extinguisher can also effectively extinguish the fire.

Moreover, it is not recommended to use water to extinguish the lithium battery, whether it is a domestic professional or a foreign professional. Because there may be live equipment around, there are certain safety hazards in water fire fighting; therefore, if there is no fire extinguisher nearby, sand or dry salt can also be used to extinguish the fire.

Let’s take a look at what foreign professionals recommend: Class D copper powder fire extinguishers are recommended!

According to Mr. Shubham Mishra, there are two main ways that lithium-ion batteries can catch fire:

(a) When it is exposed to an adjacent fire.

(b) Due to thermal runaway of the battery itself.

① Thermal runaway is caused by manufacturing defects such as internal short circuits or physical damage.

② When thermal runaway occurs in a lithium-ion battery, the battery swells, and the electricity inside the battery either begins to short out or continues to operate.

③ The energy was stored in the battery is released, usually violently.

④ This energy is released can also cause adjacent battery cells to catch fire or thermally runaway.

So can a lithium-ion battery after a fire be extinguished with water? Normally it is not possible. The reasons are as follows:

1. Lithium was burned in normal atmospheres and reacts explosively with water to form hydrogen; the presence of trace amounts of water may ignite the material and hydrogen.

2. Lithium Fire can also throw highly reactive molten lithium metal particles.

3. A burning battery may explode violently due to overheating. Therefore, it is necessary to evacuate the crowd in time and call the fire alarm for the safest treatment.

Once the lithium-ion battery were caught fire, the first thing is to  quickly evacuate the crowd, and then cut off the power supply before putting out the fire; if an electric vehicle is caught fire outdoors, you need to stay away from the scene and call the fire alarm for help; if there is no danger, you can use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. If there is danger, stay away in time.