Staying safe around lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries have become ubiquitous in how products are powered 无毛视频� from cellphones to power tools to electric vehicles.
However, they do pose a fire risk under certain circumstances.
Jim Dahle, the director of safety and risk management for Pennsylvania Western University无毛视频檚 California campus, said like your standard batteries, there is a 无毛视频減ositive无毛视频� and a 无毛视频渘egative无毛视频� side.
He described an 无毛视频渆lectrolyte solvent无毛视频� within the batteries as being central to their functions.
无毛视频淚nside a lithium-ion battery you have, obviously, lithium-ion, and they pass through a flammable electrolyte solvent. The electrons gather on the positive side to charge, and they go back to the negative side to discharge,无毛视频� Dahle said. 无毛视频淚f any of that gets disrupted, you could have a failure.无毛视频�
A disruption could occur if the separator inside the battery keeping these two sides apart from each other becomes damaged.
The battery could also overheat.
无毛视频淟ithium-ion batteries don无毛视频檛 like heat. Anytime when you无毛视频檙e charging it, you无毛视频檙e going to be generating heat. When you generate the heat, if you generate it too fast, you can have a failure,无毛视频� Dahle said.
Dahle added that the batteries can enter 无毛视频渢hermal runaway,无毛视频� where it continuously generates heat.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 going to continue to generate this heat until it fails and burns up that electrolyte,无毛视频� Dahle said.
Fire departments caution people to take proper care of those batteries to prevent these types of failures, as fires originating from lithium-ion batteries present unique challenges to firefighters.
South Strabane Fire Department Chief Jordan Cramer said it can take 无毛视频渟everal thousand无毛视频� gallons of water to put out a fire caused by a lithium-ion battery.
无毛视频淚t requires copious amounts of water to extinguish a fire that involves a lithium-ion battery,无毛视频� Cramer said.
Cramer said his department has responded to about five lithium-ion battery related incidents in the past year. None of those involved electric vehicles, but he said a vehicle fire could take several hours to bring under control.
A.J. Boni, chief of the Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department in Fayette County, said not only are lithium-ion battery fires more difficult to extinguish, they also run the risk of reignition.
无毛视频淭hey take a large volume of water to cool. After you think you have it extinguished, they can continue to heat and reignite,无毛视频� Boni said.
According to Boni, if you have a rechargeable battery for something like a weed trimmer, chainsaw or drill and leave it plugged in after it is fully charged, you run the risk of the battery catching fire.
无毛视频淢y thing is after they are charged, just unplug them. People leave them plugged in for days, weeks at a time,无毛视频� Boni said.
When it comes to charging the batteries, Cramer suggested always using the chargers that came with the device or were otherwise provided by the manufacturer. The chargers should also be plugged directly into an outlet and not an extension cord.
Dahle said these issues with lithium-ion batteries are why PennWest campuses don无毛视频檛 allow electric bicycles or scooters into their buildings.
无毛视频淵ou can无毛视频檛 bring it in, you can无毛视频檛 charge it. They have to all stay outside,无毛视频� Dahle said.
Cramer, Boni and Dahle all said it is important to ensure the battery has been certified by an organization like Underwriters Laboratories.
Dahle suggested that you consider the overall quality of the product you are purchasing. A device like a cellphone, for example, has likely gone through a lot of research and development to create a safer battery.
无毛视频淵our cellphone manufacturers have put a lot of time and effort into developing a battery management system,无毛视频� Dahle said. 无毛视频淎 lot of other products out there don无毛视频檛 put the time and effort into those products to have a good battery management system.无毛视频�
According to Cramer, sometimes not properly disposing of a lithium-ion battery can lead to a dangerous incident down the road.
无毛视频淭hrowing them away in the regular trash is extremely hazardous. Once they无毛视频檙e damaged, they potentially end up igniting later. It无毛视频檚 usually when it无毛视频檚 in the back of a garbage truck,无毛视频� Cramer said.
If you have a lithium-ion battery that has been damaged, there are businesses such as Batteries Plus that offer recycling services. A Batteries Plus is located at 76 Old Mill Boulevard in South Strabane Township.
Cramer notes that lithium-ion batteries are very useful, but that it is just a matter of making sure to take proper care of any devices that rely on them for power.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 the difficulty, the technology is phenomenal,无毛视频� Cramer said. 无毛视频淥ur life-saving jaws of life are powered by lithium-ion batteries. I know there is a potential that if they were to catch on fire, we would have a problem.无毛视频�