最近几个月, there have been several reported fires at grid-connected lithium-ion battery energy storage facilities in South Korea and the United States. This included a fire with subsequent 爆炸 at a relatively new 2MW installation in Arizona. These fires have raised questions about the safety of the technology and the impact on future lithium ion battery storage regulations.
Lithium-ion battery technology provides a versatile energy storage option that has been successfully used for powering consumer electronics, 工具, 电动汽车, 以及备用电源系统. Grid scale energy storage has reached a new dimension as megawatts of electrical power are being stored. 与其他电池技术相比, lithium-ion batteries are more resilient to damage from excessive discharging and can cycle more times without significant loss of capacity. Lithium-ion batteries also have a higher energy density than traditional battery designs providing a footprint advantage. For all these reasons a hazard assessment of lithium-ion battery energy storage systems is necessary.
那么这些系统安全吗? Energy Storage Systems (ESS) using lithium Ion can be susceptible to catching fire under certain conditions. 例如, an internal failure of one or a small number of cells can lead to an internal short circuit that generates enough heat to initiate thermal runaway. 其他触发事件可能是过度收费, 机械滥用, or an ordinary electrical fire inside the ESS container near the battery cells. 当热失控发生时, the fire propagates through an entire module unless the batteries are adequately cooled. This is mainly achieved with water spray as clean agents are typically only effective to suppress the conventional fire. 除了热跑道期间的高热量, lithium-ion battery fires can also produce toxic and flammable gases. Upon bursting of a battery cell, the electrolyte is discharged under high pressure. The discharged cloud may be flammable and is water reactive forming hydrofluoric acid (HF) by reacting with the humidity in the air. HF is noxious and poses a serious inhalation danger. 这时就需要通风了.
Energy storage systems are being adapted quickly—faster than policymakers can create standards for them. The National Fire Protection Association has recently released the second draft version of NFPA 855, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, 这为供应商提供了有用的指导, 系统集成商, 和运营商/所有者. The final draft is scheduled for release and comment next year with the final version scheduled for release in 2020.
Many companies are looking to get ahead of any forthcoming battery storage regulations and assess the safety and 消防 他们的能源安全系统. 他们开始发展一个 工艺危害分析 at the design stage to safely mitigate any known hazards. 从那里他们可以确定火灾的特征, 爆炸, and toxic gas hazard from a lithium-ion battery failure and begin to design a system to address these failure points.