Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h / t observer; Given the odds that only a handful of grid-scale batteries today seem to melt or explode on their own, imagine the joy we will all have in the future, when grid-scale battery storage is expanded.
The world’s largest lithium ion battery is broken again
The Moss Landing Phase II energy storage facility had set up a fire alarm that triggered the faulty water containment system, which – again – triggered a series of events that resulted in about ten battery packs failing. melting.
FEBRUARY 16, 2022 JOHN FITZGERALD WEAVER
The night of Sunday, February 13, the Vistra Energy Moss Landing Phase II Energy Storage Facility set up a fire alarm shortly after 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Upon arrival, the local fire department found about 10 battery holders that had been completely melted. The fire department said the fire has been extinguished.
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Vistra has suggested that this event could be a similar event to the event September incident took down the facility’s Phase I. According to a statement from Vistrathat problem involves a chain of events that can begin with a ball bearing failure in the fan.
The suspected bearing failure is believed to have shut down the very early smoke detector (VESDA), which equips the heat suppression system. Vistra claims that due to ‘a handful of joints on hoses and hoses failing’, water sprays directly onto additional battery holders, causing short circuits and arcing, damaging batteries and creating more smoke. Additional smoke causes more warnings and causes more water to spew from faulty joints.
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Read more: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/02/16/the-worlds-largest-lithium-ion-battery-is-down-again/
At least the fire suppression system seems to work this time, unlike Great fire in Geelong last yearalthough spraying water on the live battery terminals with high amperage shows that the suppression system needs a bit of work.
Halon or CO2 might be better options, at least they don’t conduct electricity. But Lithium is very reactive, so gas containment systems may not have the right chemistry to cause fires involving Lithium compounds.
In any case, I don’t like gas fire suppression systems. I’ve experienced the horror of accidentally being locked in a server room with a Halon fire suppression system and with no way to open the door until someone realizes my predicament, so it’s only fair. say I’m a bit prejudiced against fire suppression systems. killing. There was a dust mask hanging inside an emergency box with a broken latch. My guess is that the respirator won’t help me much in an emergency.
With California and the UK heavily committed to grid-scale battery storage and other countries at least toying with the idea, I think the coming years will bring even more opportunities for me to do so. write about reliable battery events.
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