Chemical Safety at Work - The Podcast

Episode. 21: What Happens When a Power Tool Battery Explodes in a Storemasta Cabinet?

• Storemasta • Season 2 • Episode 21

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The Storemasta team recently conducted a battery fire test, blowing up a high-powered drill battery in an 18-outlet Battery Charging Cabinet.

Following the test, Mel sat down with CEO Caleb Urquhart and Pat, who was part of the testing team, to discuss how the test came together, the results, what it means for the company and the broader industry.

Watch the full test video on the Storemasta YouTube channel to find out what went down when the battery went up in flames. 

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. 

#batteryfire #lithiumbattery #dangerousgoods #testing #workplacesafety #whs #podcast #storemasta #safety 

Melissa Hampton:

Welcome back to the Chemical Safety at Work podcast, the podcast discussing all things dangerous goods safety and compliance. You may have seen, recently we released a video of a lithium-ion battery fire test where we essentially blew up a high-powered battery inside one of our 18- outlet battery storage and charging cabinets. Pat, my usual co-host, was part of the team that carried out and recorded the test, so things will be done a little bit differently today and he'll be on the receiving end of my questions. Welcome back, pat.

Patrick Gee:

Thanks, Mel. Go easy on me, a little bit nervous to be on the side of the camera.

Melissa Hampton:

That's okay, I'm sure you'll do great. We're also joined by a return guest Storem asta CEO, Caleb Urquhart, who will provide some broader insights into testing standards and why lithium-ion battery safety is such a priority right now. Welcome back, Caleb.

Caleb Urquhart:

Thank you, Mel, good to be back.

Melissa Hampton:

So, Pat, can you walk us through the testing process, how it all came together and how it worked?

Patrick Gee:

Yeah, sure, walk us through the testing process, how it all came together and how it worked. Yeah, sure. So for this test, we decided to test our 18 outlet battery charging cabinet. That's probably our most popular and most commonly sold of this range. We've also wanted to test a battery type, that is, you know, it's a battery type that every business in australia basically has.

Patrick Gee:

It's one of the most common battery types, but it's still powerful enough to do a lot of damage if it's left to and to thermal runaway in a business or so we chose a 5 amp power, high quality, fully charged power tool battery. Then we had to think about how we're going to detonate it right, and it sounds a bit crude, I guess, but one of the um the most reliable ways that we could force it to ignite, catch a fire and explode was actually an electric stove. Then to give it the opportunity to simulate propagation between other different types of battery types and see what other types of batteries might be more susceptible to propagation, we put in a high quality camera battery. We put in a high powered e-bike battery. We put in a couple of other drill batteries, all in close proximity to the fire.

Patrick Gee:

And then to data. We had an internal camera. We had a custom built temperature sensor cable going to a data logger so we could record the internal temperatures, air temperature in the cabinet. We had an external infrared thermometer pointed directly at the spot where the fire would be, inside the cabinet, with another camera on that and then two other cameras outside the cabinet. So it gave us a pretty good view of what goes on.

Melissa Hampton:

Wow, sounds like there was quite a bit involved there. I'm guessing you didn't just go out into the yard in Storemasta HQ and start blowing things up.

Patrick Gee:

No, absolutely not. So we went out to AMC's firefighting centre in northeast Tasmania and the experiment was controlled and supervised by a team of professional, trained firefighters. And, yeah, we, we did a risk assessment and all that sort of thing before we went out to do the testing. So, yeah, don't try this at home. This was done by professionals it's great.

Melissa Hampton:

So, Caleb, what was the driving force behind commissioning this testing and why is lithium-ion battery safety a priority for Storemasta?

Caleb Urquhart:

Well, excuse the pun, but it's such a hot topic. Yes, there's such a wide range of risks in everyone's businesses. Over the past few years, the risks have evolved and become much more prevalent. It's right through industry. Lithium-ion batteries are used so widely. We are constantly in conversations with businesses around how do they reduce the risk, how do they manage the risk? And once they do bring in some engineering controls to mitigate the risk, well then there's the question what does it do?

Caleb Urquhart:

in the event of a fire, in the event of a explosion, in the event of a battery going into thermal runaway, what happens? What is this cabinet going to do? What is this solution that I'm investing in going to do and that's what we are really invested in answering so that we can provide real-life solutions to real-life situations. Not just a theoretical approach, it's a practical approach.

Melissa Hampton:

And what sort of interest have you received from this testing?

Caleb Urquhart:

Yeah, we have received a great deal of interest prior to testing and post-testing from governing bodies, emergency response personnel obviously interested in the details of the test, the way the cabinet performed. There's insurance bodies interested and also a valued network of customers as well as consultants.

Melissa Hampton:

So, pat, what were the key performance criteria you were assessing and how did the cabinet perform?

Patrick Gee:

Essentially, we wanted to see that it controlled the hazards and contained the risks. So fire, actual flames, heat and projectiles those are the key hazards in a battery fire and explosion, as well as your toxic fumes and smoke. And the cabinet held up as we expected it to. It was otherwise other than a bit of smoke damage. It was otherwise unscathed really. So opening up the cabinet and inspecting it afterwards with the firefighting team there, we could see evidence of projectiles strewn throughout the cabinet, shards of metal, smoke damage all throughout the cabinet, but it didn't seem to propagate to any other of the batteries surrounding. And, yeah, there was no really real damage to the function of the cabinet at all and no evidence of flame escaping the cabinet or anything like that.

Melissa Hampton:

So yeah, that's great. So, the key point being it was relatively well contained, that's great. So the key point being.

Patrick Gee:

It was relatively well contained.

Melissa Hampton:

That's excellent. So, Caleb, how did the results of this testing influence Storemasta's approach to product innovation and compliance?

Caleb Urquhart:

Yeah, well, we're all about compliance, but more than just compliance, and it gives us confidence knowing that you can take a design, innovate around a problem, innovate around a challenge and test that design, test the innovation. It really brings us a whole lot more confidence to take this approach a lot more often, prove that a certain way that we do comply, that businesses do comply, is the best way. It's the most risk-adverse way and the best way to mitigate risk, because I don't see there's any point going down a compliance avenue if the risk is not reduced or mitigated, if that practical outcome is not achieved. And so taking a testing-based approach to innovations and compliance is really for us, gives us confidence that we're providing real-life solutions.

Melissa Hampton:

So I guess this was a rather unconventional way to test a DG storage cabinet, wouldn't you say? Why did you decide to take it into your own hands this time?

Caleb Urquhart:

That's a good question. We have spoken to some people about testing the cabinets, but because there's no standards or benchmarks to test against, it's very challenging to actually take it to a testing body and say test this cabinet against what? So there's not a lot of evidence out there as to how lithium-ion batteries perform in the event of a fire under different circumstances. Hence we felt well, we'll take it into our own hands in a controlled manner and answer some of these questions that we're constantly getting asked.

Melissa Hampton:

So, Pat, were there any unexpected results or challenges encountered during the testing?

Patrick Gee:

Not particularly in terms of the performance of the cabinet itself. I wouldn't say I think the cabinet did what we knew it would. It's more so, I guess, around the behaviour of the battery. It was really interesting to see and just to clarify, you know this exact battery type. How is that really going to behave? What are the hazards? What are the risks? Just to be certain about that, we saw that it burnt pretty fiercely for at least six minutes before our internal camera shot off and we know that there was at least 10 explosions or 10 cells ruptured, through visual and audio evidence. So that's pretty interesting to see. And then I guess some of the challenges are just around managing the risk throughout the actual design of the experiment itself, like on site. There you have to be conscious of toxic fumes and the actual you know there's a real risk. So working with the firefighters there and understanding what that would be to us and our team. So yeah, it's an interesting challenge and it took a bit of thinking.

Melissa Hampton:

Yeah, absolutely. There's a lot of variables and risks that you need to control, as you just mentioned. So, Caleb, with the increasing risks associated with lithium-ion battery fires, do you see regulations tightening?

Caleb Urquhart:

Absolutely, it's coming. New South Wales has already introduced regulations to control the products coming into the country and Australian standards are working on things. You see it in other countries throughout the globe as to standards around battery energy storage systems. So, yes, it's coming. Every dangerous goods consultant we work with has a different opinion on the risks and how to approach it from a regulatory perspective. Yes, it's an evolving space and there's so much interest and effort being put in, change will come.

Melissa Hampton:

It's good, it will happen. So how should businesses prepare for these future changes?

Caleb Urquhart:

Well, lithium- ion technology has been adopted more and more.

Caleb Urquhart:

It's not going to reduce, it's not reducing for a long time yet, and our approach would be is to recommend that businesses treat lithium- ion batteries the way they do any other dangerous good on site, and that means staff education, training, awareness of the risks and then practical steps to reduce that risk, mitigate the risk and don't expect that it's always just going to be someone else's problem or something's going to happen to someone else. We see, we see these fires and, and too often, human life put at risk, and with severe consequences, and so it's really about treating this technology appropriately, with the appropriate risk-based approach.

Melissa Hampton:

Absolutely Pat. Based on what you saw in the test, what best practices would you recommend for businesses using, storing and charging these batteries?

Patrick Gee:

Yeah, as Caleb was saying, they really need to be treated like any other dangerous goods. You need to think about your separation distances. You need to also treat them as an ignition source. So, if you are storing or have flammable liquids, say, or gases aerosols around, think about where you are storing. Or have flammable liquids, say, or gases aerosols around, think about, think about where you're storing things and try and put some separation in place. Think about your high traffic areas, your evacuation points, and then, yeah, think about where you're storing, say if you've got a cabinet or a shelf or whatever, wherever you're storing your batteries out of direct sunlight, in cool, dry locations, and then, yeah, just implement some housekeeping procedures for your staff.

Melissa Hampton:

Such as testing or monitoring.

Patrick Gee:

Yeah, inspections for damage, that sort of thing.

Melissa Hampton:

Yeah, great. And Caleb, how do you see this cabinet fitting into broader industry trends around battery storage, energy storage and workplace compliance?

Caleb Urquhart:

yeah, sure, so the Store masta cabinets always led the market. We've had this product for around eight years now in the market it's. It has evolved and will continue to refine, be refined and evolved based on feedback from tests like this that we've just carried out and market feedback. But really, where the product fits is it's a solid first step in putting in an engineered control around the battery management Absolutely.

Caleb Urquhart:

For any business trying to introduce a risk management framework or some sort of framework to bring about an improved standard in the business as to when they manage lithium-ion batteries the cabinets that's where they fit is that first solid step to then build a procedure around and a process?

Melissa Hampton:

And Storemasta has a strong focus on regulatory compliance. How does this testing reinforce Storemasta's position as a leader in dangerous goods storage?

Caleb Urquhart:

Well, we say we're more than just a box, and that's through our whole risk management methodology and process, and this test really shows, and this approach really shows, that we're more than a box and our boxes are more than just words and pictures.

Melissa Hampton:

They actually perform.

Caleb Urquhart:

They Perform. They're the right solution. They're not just there for looks. It is to solve a problem and we are committed to making sure that the solutions we provide are actually going to help organisations reduce their risk.

Melissa Hampton:

Yeah, provides that evidence.

Caleb Urquhart:

Evidence-based yeah.

Melissa Hampton:

That's good. Beyond product development, how is Storemasta working with regulators, industry bodies and businesses to improve lithium-ion battery safety in workplaces?

Caleb Urquhart:

Well, we really are approaching it in a collaborative way. There is a lot that has been learnt over the past five years and still a lot to learn, and it's about providing support, knowledge, advice and experience on real-life situations. We've got our academy now and there is a whole module on lithium-ion batteries and the safe management of them in workplaces, and that's really a massive tool to help businesses create awareness within large teams as to how to manage the risk. So that's some of the ways we are working with these industry bodies, regulators, and we're committed to continue that.

Melissa Hampton:

That's great. Thank you, Caleb, and thank you Pat for coming on today. No, worries. To watch the video, head to the Storem asta YouTube channel. We'll provide links in the episode description and tune in again next week as Pat and I explore how to avoid chemical fires and explosions in the workplace. Thank you.

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Mel Hampton

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Pat Gee

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