BESS Part 5: Evaluation and Design of Structures to Contain Lithium-ion Battery Hazards
This article is a continuation of BakerRisk’s six-part series on Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) hazards, with the previous articles located here. To date, the series has introduced failure types, failure frequencies, fire mitigation methods, and quantifying explosion and fire hazard consequences related to BESS hazards.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have the potential for serious explosion and fire hazards due to the ability of Li-ion batteries to experience thermal runaway reactions that can continue without supplemental oxygen. These hazards can have serious consequences to human life, equipment, and building integrity. Li-ion batteries have many uses from cell phones to electric vehicles and are also located in various facilities such as BESS or battery test labs. This BESS hazards series Part 5 provides a review of available analytical approaches to evaluate existing structures and design new structures for protection from Li-ion battery hazards.