Improving firefighter safety on firegrounds involving lithium-ion batteries
University of Texas at Austin, Principal Investigator - Ofodike A. Ezekoye
RELEVANCE
Firefighters are increasingly responding to incidents in which they are unaware that significant quantities of lithium-ion batteries are on-site. There are an increasing number of cases of firefighters being injured in battery-failure-related accidents.
METHODS
This study will use experimental and computational methods. Experimental methods are proposed to add data where gaps exist in the literature and to reduce uncertainty among the limited Li-ion battery-off-gas datasets in the literature. Computational methods are proposed to expand the space of scenarios beyond what is available through experiments and to aid in defining exclusion and hazard zones.
ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
A significant near-term outcome will be benchmark-quality data on gases evolved during lithium-ion battery failures. Another important outcome will be an assessment of the accuracy of Li-ion battery gas flammability and toxicity measurements using current-generation firefighter gas and HAZMAT sensor systems. The data collected on the environmental toxicity of the post-battery-fire scene will be important in minimizing firefighter exposures to hazardous materials and improving overall firefighter safety.