There may be good news on the horizon for lithium battery safety, according to a U.S. company that specializes in lithium-ion battery extinguishing products.
The company, Full Circle Lithium, scheduled a demonstration in Toronto of its newest product, a fire-suppression agent called FCL-X, with an audience that included officials from seven major U.S. airlines and others, including major cargo carriers and logistics companies.
Lithium batteries are everywhere these days, and the danger of runaway battery fires has led airlines and authorities around the world to impose strict regulations because battery fires, when they reach a certain point, are nearly impossible to extinguish. They’re now banned from checked baggage and many airlines will not allow them in overhead compartments to avoid a fire going too far before being detected.
Underwriters Laboratories’ Thermal Runaway Incident Program (TRIP)—a voluntary program that tracks and trends lithium battery incidents—indicates that the risk of a lithium-ion battery fire is at its highest point in five years of data collection. On average, there are two lithium-ion battery thermal-runaway events per week; over half of those events occur during the cruise phase of a flight, often at the furthest point from a suitable airport.
Hosted at the headquarters of one of the world’s largest logistics companies, the event provided a hands-on opportunity for airline safety teams and logistics professionals to witness the FCL-X suppression agent in a controlled, real-world simulation.
