Massive Li battery fire in Korea factory kills 22.

[MT]

Aaaand now, eevblogs favourite, Mr Candongan!

[brucehoult]

Do we actually know for sure it was an accident with a single defective cell that kicked it off?

The timing is suspiciously soon after Putin's visit to North Korea and South Korea announced a switch from neutral to supporting Ukraine. There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

[tom66]

Video of the fire breaking out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cgllkjexkrgo

It's a tragedy for sure.  It looks like there were very limited controls over where cells were placed.  If these cells are as volatile as the video shows, why were they not kept apart, in an area with fire protection and extinguishing equipment.  The staff are trying to extinguish lithium ion batteries with a regular fire extinguisher, it is a fools errand.  There is cardboard and plastic all around.

Also a bit of a mystery how 23 died (updated death toll) in what was a relatively common type of factory fire - I could understand the factory fire propagating but how on earth did so many manage to get trapped - were fire exits blocked?  Did the fire alarm function appropriately? Were drills run regularly to ensure staff knew where to evacuate?

[Ranayna]

There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

Do you have any sources? The only larger factory fire i can think of is where a group of activists burned down a power tower supplying Tesla's Gigafactory.
Otherwise i am not aware of anything out of the ordinary.

[shapirus]

There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

Do you have any sources? The only larger factory fire i can think of is where a group of activists burned down a power tower supplying Tesla's Gigafactory.
Otherwise i am not aware of anything out of the ordinary.

This, for example: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-fire-breaks-out-at-berlin-metal-factory/a-68992842

[wraper]

Do we actually know for sure it was an accident with a single defective cell that kicked it off?

The timing is suspiciously soon after Putin's visit to North Korea and South Korea announced a switch from neutral to supporting Ukraine. There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

While I agree with the first statement, automatically suspecting Putin because some mishap happened is ridiculous.

[wraper]

There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

Do you have any sources? The only larger factory fire i can think of is where a group of activists burned down a power tower supplying Tesla's Gigafactory.
Otherwise i am not aware of anything out of the ordinary.

It's a small factory, not even close to the largest factory fires that happened. As of people who died, I suspect it's not due to the lack of exits but due to intoxication and inability to find the exit due to smoke.

[brucehoult]

Do we actually know for sure it was an accident with a single defective cell that kicked it off?

The timing is suspiciously soon after Putin's visit to North Korea and South Korea announced a switch from neutral to supporting Ukraine. There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

While I agree with the first statement, automatically suspecting Putin because some mishap happened is ridiculous.

It would be ridiculous to come to an automatic assumption, but it would also be ridiculous to not consider it as a possibility. The Russian leadership considers itself to be at war with the entire West, whether we take that seriously enough or not (we're not).

[tooki]

The staff are trying to extinguish lithium ion batteries with a regular fire extinguisher, it is a fools errand.

And even if it were a “normal” fire with the correct type of extinguisher for the type of fire, the video is a master class in how not to use a fire extinguisher: the worker is shooting it off from a large distance, towards the top of the fire.

FYI, the correct way to use one is to get fairly close and aim at the base of the flames.

[Bud]

@brucehoult maybe you should re-read the Forum rules on posting politics and wars. Unless you deliberate on having this topic locked.

[brucehoult]

@brucehoult maybe you should re-read the Forum rules on posting politics and wars. Unless you deliberate on having this topic locked.

I'm just stating facts here, not taking a side. Unlike most here, I've lived and worked in Russia for a few years (more time than I have in the USA), and would be happy to do so again if/when the current situation ends. I talk regularly to a number of friends in both Russia and Ukraine.

[SiliconWizard]

As battery farms will become more common and larger, there will be some fun times ahead for sure.

[thm_w]

The staff are trying to extinguish lithium ion batteries with a regular fire extinguisher, it is a fools errand.

And even if it were a “normal” fire with the correct type of extinguisher for the type of fire, the video is a master class in how not to use a fire extinguisher: the worker is shooting it off from a large distance, towards the top of the fire.

FYI, the correct way to use one is to get fairly close and aim at the base of the flames.

I wouldn't want to get close to a jet of flames like that. They should have either had a better powerful fire extinguisher, or a panic fire button. Not that either of those would have necessarily helped either..

Wonder what charge state the batteries are shipped at.

[tooki]

The staff are trying to extinguish lithium ion batteries with a regular fire extinguisher, it is a fools errand.

And even if it were a “normal” fire with the correct type of extinguisher for the type of fire, the video is a master class in how not to use a fire extinguisher: the worker is shooting it off from a large distance, towards the top of the fire.

FYI, the correct way to use one is to get fairly close and aim at the base of the flames.

I wouldn't want to get close to a jet of flames like that. They should have either had a better powerful fire extinguisher, or a panic fire button. Not that either of those would have necessarily helped either…

Of course one shouldn’t get excessively close. But you’d think that in a company that deals in lithium batteries, they’d have established procedures which they’d train employees in. Including when to just evacuate. They certainly wouldn’t/shouldn’t teach people to delay evacuating in order to uselessly discharge an extinguisher from a distance where it couldn’t do anything, at the wrong part of a fire it is categorically incapable of fighting!

[Siwastaja]

But you’d think that in a company that deals in lithium batteries, they’d have established procedures which they’d train employees in.

You could think so! When I was dealing with building li-ion battery packs - and I had, at most, only some 5000 18650 cells at my site, I, just for my own mental health, already come up with some procedures which were more effective than what these guys had. It was as simple as having a large container of water next to the welding robot station, designed as such that the pack being welded will physically fit in said water container, so that I can just push the whole pack into the water within seconds. And coming up with such process cost me just a few minutes of my time.

It is well known how ineffective regular fire extinguishers (foam, powder or CO2) are against li-ion (or primary lithium, too) battery fires since the cells have internal oxidizers, but on the other hand it's also well known how effective using large amounts of water is, because thermal runaway stops by effective cooling.

Heck, even some fairly small fire brigades have been coming up with ways to submerge whole vehicles in a massive container. Submerging just packaged cells at a factory is orders of magnitude easier.

Just basic separation of areas stuff; not too many cells in one spot. Companies can successfully manufacture ammunition, explosives, explosive reagents and whatever without these factories blowing up right and left. Just borrow some of the same strategies.

EDIT: Note the above comments of water were assuming li-ion, which in this case seems incorrect speculation. As they were dealing with primary (non-rechargeable) lithium batteries, which contain lithium metal, which reacts with water, using water might be problematic.

[ArdWar]

Also a bit of a mystery how 23 died (updated death toll) in what was a relatively common type of factory fire - I could understand the factory fire propagating but how on earth did so many manage to get trapped - were fire exits blocked?  Did the fire alarm function appropriately? Were drills run regularly to ensure staff knew where to evacuate?

If this is similar to how a lot of QC/packaging factory in the area are configured, factory floor tend to ends up compartmentalized. Either into actual rooms for sections offices, or into mazes due to large equipment, racks or even stacks of products.
Combine that with how quick the fire develop, how late emergency/evacuation appears to be declared, and most importantly: smoke. It almost always smoke.

[soldar]

It would be ridiculous to come to an automatic assumption, but it would also be ridiculous to not consider it as a possibility. The Russian leadership considers itself to be at war with the entire West, whether we take that seriously enough or not (we're not).

This is not the place for your considerations on this matter.

And it is not the place for my considerations either so I will refrain from posting them.

[Marco]

Did the sprinklers not work or was the smoke that poisonous?

[2N3055]

Biggest fire hazard is organic solvents used, in fluid an aerosol form, and biggest health hazard are released various fluorides like HF (Hydrogen Fluoride), especially in closed space. Not that solvents used are safe anyways.

In a battery factory fire could have spread to solvents not yet put in batteries, if that is present on site.
Basically Li batteries burn because they are full of "gasoline". Electrolytes provide exothermic reaction that ignites the battery, but it is mostly the organic solvents that are fuel.
Explosion is mostly gas pressure, but if it creates solvent cloud then you can have what is basically an aerosol bomb. It is lucky that it is not easy for that to happen. But a solvent aerosol cloud conflagration can happen and that is not much better.

Pouring water on burning battery not only cools the ignited material, but also absorbs hydrogen fluoride, forming hydrofluoric acid. If plenty of water is used, acid is weak and not very harmful.

If you get exposed to gaseous hydrogen fluoride that is very bad news. It creates horrible injuries.

So yeak, Li battery is quite a vile cocktail of dangerous...

As someone said before, factory should be constructed with that in mind..

[tom66]

It seems the fire started on the second floor and there were only a few staircases where evacuation would have been possible.  The heavy smoke would have quickly incapacitated people.

I would have thought a smoke extraction system would be mandatory for a facility like this.  Obviously it won't stop the fire spreading but makes the escape time a little longer.

[madires]

The timing is suspiciously soon after Putin's visit to North Korea and South Korea announced a switch from neutral to supporting Ukraine. There have also been suspicious factory fires in Germany recently.

The fire at Diehl in Berlin happened in the electroplating shop for car parts. They make a lot of stuff, not just defence products, e.g. T&M.

[soldar]

Most of the dead were Chinese nationals.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/about-20-bodies-found-after-fire-south-korea-battery-plant-yonhap-reports-2024-06-24/

HWASEONG, South Korea, June 24 (Reuters) - A lithium battery factory in South Korea was set on fire after multiple batteries exploded on Monday, killing 22 workers, most of them Chinese nationals, fire officials said.

The fire and a series of explosions ripped through the factory run by primary battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, an industrial cluster southwest of the capital Seoul.

The victims likely succumbed to extremely toxic gas within seconds of the blaze getting out of control, the officials said. It was unclear what caused the explosions and the fire was largely extinguished in about six hours.

[wraper]

Apparently those were lithium-thionyl chloride batteries, and it does not look like they made any rechargeable batteries.

[antenna]

If you have ever met a bipolar patient prescribed too much lithium, and have seen the effects of it in the body, you wouldn't want this crap in your environment.  Its in the air, in the ground water, its everywhere now.  And just like recycling, it goes straight in the ground after the cells go bad in just a couple of years.  The cheap plastic packaging will ensure everyone gets an effective dose in them before they have a chance to get mad about it too.

What I want to know is why the lithium push happened before the infrastructure to recapture this crap was established and proven.  The potential for lithium fires don't scare me nearly as bad as everyone ending up antisocial, uncoordinated, and drooling on themselves. Soon, landfills will catch fire from one dented battery and that fire will simultaneously release all the lithium contained in said landfill forming water soluble lithium salts that go straight into our ground water.  Just like the tetraethyl lead problem, another tsunami of problems is on the way.  Everywhere there is freedom, another country sees a landfill.

[MT]

Video of the fire breaking out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cgllkjexkrgo

It's a tragedy for sure.  It looks like there were very limited controls over where cells were placed.  If these cells are as volatile as the video shows, why were they not kept apart, in an area with fire protection and extinguishing equipment.  The staff are trying to extinguish lithium ion batteries with a regular fire extinguisher, it is a fools errand.  There is cardboard and plastic all around.

Also a bit of a mystery how 23 died (updated death toll) in what was a relatively common type of factory fire - I could understand the factory fire propagating but how on earth did so many manage to get trapped - were fire exits blocked?  Did the fire alarm function appropriately? Were drills run regularly to ensure staff knew where to evacuate?

Video indicates these Chinese was just imported dirt cheap uneducated labour. They had no idea whats in the battery and how dangerous the whole factory was.