Lithium Ion Batteries
R. Meier & P. Kennedy, 2016
Lithium Ion Batteries, Battery Fires, Battery Explosions, Electronics Fires, E-cigarette Fires
Since their introduction, there have been many fire and explosion incidents where LI cell or batteries were involved. Sometimes the batteries were the source of ignition and sometime even the source of the fuel. In some cases, however, the batteries were victims of the fire. Determining the order of events is not always easy. Proper understanding of battery fundamentals, and investigation methodology when dealing with lithium-ion technology, is crucial to making the correct determination.
ABSTRACT
Lithium-ion batteries have become a staple of modern life. Many of the devices we use daily depends on these batteries to make the portable and lightweight. Many people are not even aware that they carry one or more lithium ion cells or batteries around with them daily, sometime even attached to their own bodies.
Lithium-ion batteries have the highest energy density for any commercially available on the market. Other benefits are low self discharge, and low “memory” (tendency to acquire a maximum or minimum state of charge). It is this fact that makes them so popular. Uses have been found for lithium-ion batteries in automotive, marine, aerospace and military and communications applications to name but a few.
No longer need someone lug around a heavy, awkward device like the original “brick” cell phone. Today’s cell phones are weighed in ounces and grams, not pounds and kilos. This fact also makes them potentially more dangerous, as more energy is packed into a tighter space with less means of containment.
All batteries will fail. It is simply a matter of chemistry, physics and time. This is true for any battery, whether alkaline, nickel-cadmium, or lithium-ion. Fortunately, the vast majority of batteries fail in a benign manner, causing little more than some aggravation and inconvenience to the user. Those batteries that fail in the other extreme the catastrophic failure is of concern to the fire investigator and others involved in public safety. Since their introduction, there have been many fire and explosion incidents where LI cell or batteries were involved. Sometimes the batteries were the source of ignition and sometime even the source of the fuel. In some cases, however, the batteries were victims of the fire. Determining the order of events is not always easy. Proper understanding of battery fundamentals, and investigation methodology when dealing with lithium-ion technology, is crucial to making the correct determination.