Development of a testing procedure to evaluate the performance of aviation fire containment solutions for lithium-ion battery fires

Abstract

Fire containment is an important element within the air cargo industry when transporting lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Existing fire suppression systems and fire detection methods used in aircraft are seen as incapable of preventing fires that are originating within the Unit Load Devices (ULD) especially fires originating inside ULD containers. Halon based fire extinguishing systems presently available in aircraft cargo compartments are not enough to put down lithium-ion battery fires. The development of Container Fire Containment Covers (CFCCs) is a latest innovation that has a large impact on the safety of both passenger and freighter aircraft. CFCCs which use a passive fire suppression system are becoming a global norm that can be used to protect each individual ULD container separately and prevent fire from spreading to the adjacent cargo loads. However, there is a lack of evidence on an experimental method to determine the capability of industrial fire containment solutions used in aircraft for containing LIB fires initiated inside ULD containers. Therefore, this study proposes an experimental test method to evaluate the fire containment performance of CFCCs under a LIB fire. The fire containment capability of CFCC designs developed for two different ULD container configurations (AKE and AMJ) are assessed using the developed test method with 2000 and 5000 18650-sized LIB cells respectively with each CFCC design validating the test method. The condition of the ULD containers is also assessed to guide container manufacturers on damages caused by a LIB fire. The results and observations of the fire tests show that ULD containers alone cannot withstand a LIB battery fire and the CFCCs are capable of containing a LIB battery fire for the tested magnitude. Based on the results CFCCs can be considered an acceptable solution to safely transport LIB shipments in commercial aircraft.