Aviation Lithium-Ion Cell Fire Protection: Developing Standardized Fire Testing to Evaluate New Tech

When:  Jul 19, 2021 from 11:00 to 12:00 (ET)
Presented by: Kelly Opert, PE

UL is involved with the aviation industry to better understand the hazards associated with  rechargeable batteries and identify potential mitigation solutions.  Data from FAA shows an increasing number of smoke and fire incidents from lithium-ion batteries in electronic items.  Consequently, there is interest from  the cargo carriers in the  development of fire suppression and containment features for cargo containers.  To evaluate the fire performance of the new technologies, a standardized test method needs to be developed – one that will require development of an ignition source that  represents  the hazards in the cargo. This session will explore the challenges of lithium-ion batteries for the aviation industry, discuss mitigation techniques, and share ongoing research towards a standardized fire performance test method.