APS company clarifies the cause of battery storage to fire explosion and puts safe repair measures

　　Author ：Iflowpower – Portable Power Station Supplier

According to foreign media reports, US public business vendors Arizona Public Service Company (APS) recently announced that the company has completed investigations and research on battery energy storage systems that occur in McMicken Substation. The incident that happened in April last year, let users feel worried about battery energy storage system security. APS has recently submitted a survey report to the Arizona Commission of the State Regulatory Agency.

The company has made a new security requirement to carry out innovation and deployment in the report and written in DNVGL. APS is committed to deploying battery energy storage systems in large-scale to store electricity in solar power generation facilities. However, the company took a fire explosion in April in April last year, and it interrupted its energy storage deployment.

After the fire broke out after the fire broke out, the firefighters rushed to the scene, when they opened the door of container storage facilities, several firefighters were injured in hospital. The APS recommends adding ventilation and firefighting measures to container storage systems, and supply training for emergency personnel according to the industry media reports, APS's battery energy storage system deployed 27 battery racks, one of the rack batteries Due to short circuits, there is no spread of other battery racks. This indicates that the layout of the battery rack can be effectively isolated from each other.

However, the aerosol fire extinguishing agent cannot prevent the accumulation of explosive gases, so exploding after the firefighters open the door and let large amounts of oxygen enter the container storage system. The survey shows that even in the hands of the relevant experience of public business vendor APS, energy storage supplier Flunce and battery manufacturer, LGChem, the battery energy storage system will also face risks. SCOTTBORDENKIRCHER SCOTTBORDENKIRCHER, SCOTTBORDENKIRCHER, said the survey report provides the opportunity to find out, and ensure that the battery energy storage system eliminates the fault path in future deployment and construction.

He said in an interview that the industry media said: "Dialogue and related lessons around this incident are very critical, because this is the factor to consider and deploy the next generation of energy storage systems. "Two important recommendations have been made to transform this survey: one is to modify the battery energy storage system to eliminate the accumulation of explosive gases;. This survey reported this incident into five key steps: (1) Battery energy storage system In operation, a lithium-ion battery has a dendritic crystallization, which causes short circuit, causing battery heat to out of control and fire.

(2) With the spread of the fire, aerosol fire extinguishing agent cannot block strong fire. (3) Tight batteries in the rack means that the fire spreads rapidly between batteries. Although its layout can prevent fire from spreading other battery racks, there is no physical barrier that prevents fire spread between the battery racks.

(4) The bumps of the burning dozens of batteries release a large number of explosive gases, these gas volumes are unable to escape in deploying container battery energy storage facilities. This container does not have a sensor to calculate and perceive the accumulation of these gases. (5) Since there is no sensor or cannot be remotely observed, the judgment and operation of the Emergency operators of the APS is also imposed, they should have limited knowledge and related experience in this case.

Dramatic crystallization is a well-known battery fault mode, but unexpectedly, it will appear in a battery for only two years. Bordenkircher said: "If the battery is used for a long time, this happens may be unexpected, but it is far from seeing the severity of this battery energy storage system. "As this event is indicated, it may also be defects even from the battery purchased from excellent battery providers.

Bordenkircher said: "Our research focus is to understand when the battery will fail, how to prevent this situation. "He said that the APS is to deploy remote sensing equipment and ventilation. Therefore, if the fire causes a fire in the battery to release hazardous gases, the operator can identify and remove these gases from the facility, and reduce the danger of explosion.

Although the regulatory authorities in New York have been required, this is not a standard practice in the energy storage industry. Other upgraded modifications include installing a physical barrier between cooling systems or batteries to prevent fire spread, which can improve the ability of fire extinguishing in the case of aerosol fire extinguishing agent. Bordenkircher said that although these steps and measures will increase the materials and labor costs of battery energy storage projects, there is no other way.

He pointed out: "No matter how it costs, guarantee equipment and personal safety, otherwise it is difficult to sell or deploy. Regulators require forced implementation of safety standards to be correct. "Bordenkircher said, in terms of training, APS will surround the fire response around the fire response to the operator, and train local firefighters.

About relevant personnel that may involve should be regularly trained. However, the early emergency plan did not take into account the battery explosion, which made the firefighters may not be prepared about what they might happen when they open the energy storage facilities. Re-build the safety standard APS of the battery energy storage system closed the company's other battery energy storage facilities, one of which was deployed at the PunkinCenter community, which is identical to the McMicken battery energy storage system.

Before reopened operation, the company should conduct a ventilation system for ventilation systems. Battery energy storage systems related to planned deployment must also meet these requirements. When the battery energy storage system of the MCMicken power station occurs, the APS is considering signing some contracts, and the company has a battery energy storage system for the company's large solar power facility supporting machine.

After this incident, these deployment plans have been put on hold, but APS has always believed that there should still be more deployed battery energy storage systems. The company has cooperated with the winning bidder to understand whether they can transform their energy storage projects to meet the safety standards proposed in the survey report. These standards will be included in the new requirements for proposals.

Although APS can only enforce these standards in its own service area, Bordenkircher wants other manufacturers to use such a solution in deploying battery energy storage systems. He said: "There are also many container battery energy storage systems around the world. I hope that each manufacturer of battery energy storage systems that owns and operate can check this, and conduct risk assessments according to these findings.

"APS plans to promote the results of its research report to more industry organizations. The company promises to eliminate carbon emissions in electricity production in January this year. With the progress of dilution, the battery energy storage system will play a crucial purpose in meeting peak power demand.

Bordenkircher also pointed out that although the battery energy storage system has derived some storage system deployment, it is not possible to change the development trend of deploying more battery energy storage systems.