SPRINKLERS AND ESS SPRINKLERS AND ESS

FIGURE 2.
NMCfire
development
during large-
scale free
burn test:
neartime of
ignition (left).
near time of
predicted
sprinkler
operation
(centre), peak
heat release
rate (right).

fire to the rack where it ignited, the fire + a nominal 74 degrees Celsius water supply should be calcu lated
did not significantly affect any of the temperature rating and RTI of as 45 minutes times the number of
modules in the adjacent rack. 27.6 m'"s /2 adjacent racks, but no less than 90
Under the same conditions, a test +for ce iling heights in the range of minutes.
involving a system comprised of NMC 3.0 metres to 7.6 m, the ceiling + For ESS comprised of multiple racks,
batteries resulted in the fire spreading construction shou ld have a minimum without large-scale fire testing, each
to an adjacent rack, and the number one-hour fire rating. individual rack should be separated
of sprinkler operations represented The protection recommendations for like combustibles at the distances
a demand area greater than this type of LFP system should include: outlined above.
230 square metres. +Without fire protection: the minimum For ESS that represents a different
space separation from any part kind of fire hazard to those already
Delay or prevent of the ESS should be 1.2 m from listed, due to design features and/or
Despite the design of the racks non-combustible objects and 1.8 m power rating, appropriate large-scale
With demand rising for lithium-ion battery-based energy effectively shielding the fire from from combustible objects, including fire testing is recommended to
sprinkler water, the fire tests proved adjacent ESS racks. determine if a more robust protection
storage systems, new recommendations have been
that sprinklers could delay or prevent + With sprinkler protection: the scheme is needed.
released for their protection from fire. fire spread to adjacent racks. Coupled minimum space separation from As fires involving lithium-ion batteries
with adequate separation from nearby any part of the ESS should be 0.9 m are known to reignite at any time-from
FIGURE 1. BY MICHAEL STUCKINGS fire tests recently conducted on ESS The fire testing was conducted at the combustibles and the addition of from non-combustible objects and minutes to days after the initial event- a
Example of sized for commercial applications, such FM Global Research Campus in Rhode thermal barriers between racks, the 1.5 m from combustible objects. The fire watch should be present until all
Operations Chief Engineer, FM Global
full-scale free as manufacturing, office buildings, power Island, US, and the ESS comprised of hazard can be reduced even more. sprinkler system water supply should potentially damaged ESS equipm ent
burn test However, without a protection system be designed for a minimum 230 m 2 containing lithium-ion batteries is
generation and utility use. ej ther iron phosphate (LFP) or nickel
set-up for the that can suppress the fire in the early demand area and a duration of at removed from the area. Adequate
ithium-ion battery-based energy The good news is that the research manganese cobalt oxide (NMC)
NMC module.
Mock racks
are located on
either side of
L storage systems (ESS) are in
increasing demand for supplying
energy to buildings and power grids.
shows that ESS deployments can be
made safer through the combination
of automatic sprinklers and the carefu l
batteries. Both of the ESS tested had
solid metal side and back walls, an
open front, and contained 16 modules
stages, a prolonged burn, high water
demand and damage to surroundings
are likely.
least 90 m inutes.
Protection recommendations for this
type of NMC system:
cooling of the batteries is necessary in
order to preven t reignition.
The results show that properly
the ESS rack However, they are also under scrutiny spacing of ESS racks. of prismatic batteries arranged in eight We recommend protection coupling +Without fire protection: the minimum designed sprinklers can be effective in
to measure the sprinkler system design and ESS space separation from any part delaying or preventing fire spreading to
after a number of recent fires and levels of two modules. The LFP system
exposure hazard installation guidance, such as the of the ESS should be 2.4 m from adjacent ESS racks and that separation
to adjacent
explosions. It has become clear that Determining the fire hazard had a rating of 83.6 kilowatt hours,
lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to From a fire protection standpoint, while the NMC system had a rating of appropriate separation distance, non-combustible objects and 4.0 m between ESS and oth er combustibles is
equipment, and
thermal runaway, leading to a venting the overall fi re hazard of any ESS is 125 kWh. Figures 1 and 2 show the to keep the fire hazard within from combustible objects, including essential to effective fire protection. •
representative
structure walls of flammable gases and subsequent a combination of all the combustible arrangement and results of a large-scale acceptable levels. adjacent ESS racks.
are located combustion, and creating new fi re system components, including battery free burn test on an NMC system. Current understanding tells us that + With sprinkler protection: the To learn more, download the full research
across a 2.7 m protection challenges. cheITT istry, battery format (for example, At all fest scales, which ranged from the best protection recommendations minimum space separation from report from the FM Global website at
separation to are as fo llows: any part of the ESS should be 1.8 m www.fmglobal.com/researchreports.
To increase awareness of what can cylindrical, prismatic or polymer pouch), a single-battery module to full ESS racks
measure the +the sprinkler system should provide from non-combustible objects and
exposure to be done to improve safety around this eli ctrical capacity and energy density. containing 16 modules each, the ESS
technology, mutual insurance company Material·s of construction and the design comprised of LFP batteries was found a minimum discharge density of 2.7 m from combustible objects. The
surrounding
objects. FM Global has publicly released first-of- of components such as batteries and to have a lower overall fire hazard. In the 12 millimetres per minute using sprinkler system water supply should
its-kind research and recommendations. modules also play a part in determining sprinklered tests where a single sprinkler sprinklers with a K-factor of 81 litres/ be designed for the total room area
These are based on small to large-scale hazard levels. operation was sufficient to contain the min/bar' 12 or greater where the ESS is located, and the

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