Lithium-ion batteries present a unique danger to the recycling and waste management industries that requires a specialised fire suppression solution.
E-cigarettes and their lithium batteries are hazardous once they are disposed of. They pose an even bigger potential issue when not disposed of correctly.
Batteries have always presented a unique danger for waste management facilities and require specialised fire suppression solutions. Wastech Engineering provides clients with fire suppression systems that can significantly reduce fire risk.
Wastech was founded in 1993 and is an Australian design, engineering and manufacturing company servicing the waste management and resource recovery sectors across Australia and New Zealand. Under the leadership of Garreth Dorey, General Manager of Sales and Marketing, Wastech is building on its partnership with Fire Rover out of North America. Fire Rover sought to partner with a local provider, and Wastech met this need.
“Partnering with us made perfect sense for Fire Rover,” Garreth says. “We are one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading companies focusing on waste management equipment and solutions. Wastech is Australian-owned and operated, and we have a proud 30-year history. Our goal is to become a one-stop shop for the waste management and resource recovery sector.”
Battery-related fires tend to result from unsafe handling of batteries at waste and resource recovery facilities. Compacting, shredding, and exposure to other components within the waste stream can cause batteries to become damaged, which can quickly lead to fires.
“The big problem around lithium batteries and e-cigarettes is that they are often mixed in with other waste and can self-ignite,” Garreth says. “This can quickly spread to surrounding material within the waste stream. Once this occurs, it does not take much for a fire to burn down a truck or facility in just minutes.
“We estimate that lithium-ion-related fires cost the Australian waste industry in excess of $200M annually. As well as the direct financial cost, fires pose a considerable business interruption risk.”
Existing fire sprinkler systems are not always effective for battery fires. Lithium, the major component in consumer batteries and electronic vehicles (EVs), reacts explosively with water. The reaction forms lithium hydroxide and hydrogen, the latter being extremely flammable. As a result, Garreth says, trying to extinguish a battery fire with water can only worsen it.
“This is the big difference between encapsulating agents, water, and foams. Water alone is not the right approach. Our environmentally safe encapsulating agent is 150 times ‘wetter’ than water alone and with our remote intervention is the first respondent, suppressing the fire and soaking the material surrounding the outbreak to minimise further risk,” he says.
“The Fire Rover encapsulating agent does not contain PFAS and encapsulates the fire to suppress and put it out. When we watched a staged firefight against a tyre fire, it was seen to put the fire out within 10 seconds. Traditional firefighting foam took over two minutes to extinguish the same fire.
“The other factor to consider from this example is re-ignition risk. Traditional methods did put the fire out; however, the fire reignited later that night, that caused another risk on-site that could have been prevented. The key to success is early intervention for several reasons. A lower-intensity fire means less risk to lives and infrastructure, which is what Fire Rover assists with. We are monitoring remotely, so we can see what the human eye can’t, act fast to suppress the fire and alert the site and authorities,” Garreth says.
He says Fire Rover is now located at more than 400 facilities in the US and recently expanded into France and the UK. Advanced thermal cameras are equipped to detect even the slightest rise in temperature, and these are combined with smoke and flame analytics. A 24/7 remote monitoring team identifies the threat. It instantly deploys an encapsulating agent at the base of the hotspot to cool it down and cut off the oxygen supply. During 2022 there were nearly 400 significant fires in facilities across the US, none on sites with Fire Rover.
“The 24/7 monitoring is a vital feature of the system. It’s designed to support the site, emergency services and facility management while preventing a fire from taking place. Alerting the site and authorities while being part of early suppression reduces the risk of the fire developing and reduces risk. We are a crucial part of the onsite intervention and the logical choice for early intervention,” Garreth says.
Traditional fire suppression systems are also only effective in a small area. While they may put out a small battery fire, they cannot deal with overheating batteries in the vicinity without the presence of flames. Ineffective fire suppression means that the danger of a fire is present even after the system has deployed its fire-suppressing system. The Fire Rover system detects all abnormal thermal signatures in real time and extinguishes them immediately.
The systems are customised to facility requirements and provide 24/7, real-time monitoring.
“Fire Rover is suppressing fires fast through its detection before they take hold,” Garreth says. “A fire can engulf a facility in minutes, particularly when lithium batteries and other combustible materials exist. Fires can grow exponentially and double in intensity every 30 seconds, so preventing the fire from taking hold is key. As Fire Rover is controlled remotely, we also reduce the risk to employees and firefighters who would traditionally be the first to respond.”
By identifying all batteries that may be on the verge of thermal runaway, a fire incident is safer for firefighters who avoid the risk of entering a facility where batteries are about to ignite. Military-grade thermal imaging means the facility is safe from sudden combustion.
One of the biggest challenges for waste management companies is that most insurers will not provide coverage to waste management companies.
Garreth believes only one or two insurance companies are willing to insure waste management companies.
However, the premiums can be exorbitant, encouraging the facilities to calculate the risk around prevention or to self-insure.
“Cost is a huge factor for some of these facilities,” he says. “They can be running on really low margins. The difference between profit and loss can be finite.
“Risk within these waste and resource streams comes with the territory. These facilities would rather have a system that can detect any potential risk before it happens. There has been no significant loss in the US where Fire Rover has been installed.
“Fire Rover can fill this gap for waste management facilities.”
For more information, visit www.wastech.com.au
