Lithium-ion Battery Fire Extinguishers

Read More About Lithium Battery Fire Safety

AVD Compound Technology

These technically advanced Fire Extinguishers utilise AVD (Aqueous Vermiculite Dispersion) compound – a ground breaking extinguishing agent – and are engineered for the purpose of tackling high risk fires of a contained size. They are suitable for use in enclosed spaces such as homes, hotel rooms, public transport, road vehicles, marine and aviation.

The Firechief Lith-Ex extinguishers most key feature is the ability to tackle lithium-ion battery fires, such as those which would commonly emanate from personal electronic devices e.g. mobile phones, tablets, laptops and cameras etc. They can really be of benefit to provide protection against fires starting where large quantities of lithium-ion batteries may be stored or left on charge; such as in battery recycling points, product distribution, charging stations and many other situations.

Why choose Lith-Ex?

Water is a suitable asset to aid in cooling and extinguishing Class A fires; however, water naturally flows away from the designated target and therefore necessitates continual discharge until the fire is finally extinguished. This is not an issue for standard Class A fires but for a battery which is in thermal runaway (a condition where the increasing heat of the battery causes a reaction which further increases the heat and continues this heat generating process until all of the stored energy is exhausted), this means that the temperature can rise again after being cooled leading to re-ignition. In this situation an agent which can overpower this reaction without such limitations is necessary.

AVD is a stable dispersion of refractory vermiculite platelets in water. When applied to the initial fire, AVD quickly extinguishes it; the water cools the system, the high surface area mineral platelets interrupt the radical chain reaction and a refractory film forms which impedes oxygen diffusion to the fuel source.

Another advantage of AVD is that as it dries it forms a thermally insulating film which reduces the risk of thermal runaway propagation to adjacent cells. The non-combustible vermiculite film also coats the packaging of adjacent cells preventing the spread of fire. The film also isolates combustible components from the air, preventing ignition.