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Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

abc7chicago.com

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Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#151
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 12 kilos - most people can barely lift that! Not that I'm disagreeing with your overall point, but this I find particularly surprising? My electric scooter weighs 14 kilograms and I carry it everywhere. That said, adding an extra 12 kilos to my backpack would be annoying, for sure.

Huh. I add 15kg of weight plates to my backpack, for fun. And I walk to work.

Huh, I put 30kg of lead on each leg for fun when hiking, when jogging to work, anytime, really. Plus that heavy backpack, of course!

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My city has a recycling center for household products, but it requires the use of a motor vehicle. I have been unsuccessful in using taxi or ride-sharing services to drop off items. Unfortunately, the inflexible vehicle requirement is a deal breaker for me and many of my neighbors.

> it requires the use of a motor vehicle as in "it's miles away from the next bus stop, so walking is impractical", or as in "if you don't show up in a motor vehicle, we don't let you in"?

Some recycling centres in my country don't allow entry on foot. They'll allow entry on a motorbike, don't know about a bicycle.

I speculate it's because they often have hours-long queues, and people in cars might decide to park and walk past the queue, if it was allowed, which could get chaotic.

Or perhaps the rules were just written by someone who hadn't considered non-car-owners.

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we can conclude a watermelon is a really bad weight reference unit!

$ units You have: 1 watermelon You want: grapes * 907.19 / 0.0011023

Is there anything "units" can't convert?

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What chemicals are in lithium batteries that are toxic? I was under the impression that while lithium batteries were dangerous due to explosion/flame risk, the actual ingredients weren't particularly toxic?

You don’t want to breathe in cement dust.

I've breathed in cement dust and HF. I'd choose cement anytime.

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#155

Lithium battery fire cannot be 'put out'- in a normal sense. A fuel tank of petrol needs oxygen to burn, and when you spray foam on it your cut off the oxygen and the fire stops. A battery already contains energy, all the chemicals required for the reaction are already present, and once the energy release starts, sealing it from the environment does not stop the process. Ebike and drone batteries are large enough to…

>Ebike and drone batteries are large enough to be properly dangerous and fire departments make noises about them but offer no solutions. A suitable fireproof containment bag + fire-resistant gloves is about $1200 AUD (Brimstone Preventer [1], but I'm sure alternatives are available. This one is small phone/tablet sized and rated for 10k mAh). But most people won't purchase a >A fire extinguisher large enough for a 50…

> But most people won't purchase a $1,100 to contain fire from a phone? No-one is buying it because that's is a terrible deal!

An E-bike battery is like 20x larger, is a containment for e-bike going to cost as much as a car?

But yeah let's blame the consumer, the industry can't be at fault!

Also I had a fire extinguisher, they have an expiration date and now I don't have one.

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#156
post #86
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wondered if maybe it's possible to pack batteries with a relatively harmless material that undergoes a very energy-intensive phase change. Water's the obvious choice, but it tends to drain away rather than stick around long enough to turn to steam. Maybe there's a better material, or ways to design battery cooling systems so that a burning battery turns into a very efficient steam generator, and thus can be cool…

>Water's the obvious choice, but it tends to drain away rather than stick around long enough to turn to steam. just add something gel-forming into the water or some fiber/dust (even just gluten flour) that absorbs a lot of water and turns into kind of watery dough.

They do this at airports. The easy answer is foam.

The problem it turns out is making large quantities of water based foam (without making it flammable somehow) is easiest when using perflourinated compounds.

Oops.

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#157
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure can't put out a nuclear fire but the effort did do a lot to minimize burning radioactive carbon from getting out beyond the site. Its all they really could do. I was wondering why more cities don't try smothering battery fires with sand.

> I was wondering why more cities don't try smothering battery fires with sand. Because it is much more annoying to clean the street afterwards than foam and water.

Easier than rebuilding a city block though.

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#158
post #98
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LiPF6 = lithium hexafluorophosphate HF = hydrogen flouride

> HF = hydrogen flouride otherwise known as hydroflouric acid. nasty stuff indeed: > In addition to being a highly corrosive liquid, hydrofluoric acid is also a powerful contact poison. Because of the ability of hydrofluoric acid to penetrate tissue, poisoning can occur readily through exposure of skin or eyes, or when inhaled or swallowed. Symptoms of exposure to hydrofluoric acid may not be immediately evident, and…

> flouride

fluoride

Doesn't anyone use a spell checker any more?

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#159

Lithium battery fire cannot be 'put out'- in a normal sense. A fuel tank of petrol needs oxygen to burn, and when you spray foam on it your cut off the oxygen and the fire stops. A battery already contains energy, all the chemicals required for the reaction are already present, and once the energy release starts, sealing it from the environment does not stop the process. Ebike and drone batteries are large enough to…

Most job applications for positions with any sort of physical aspect (grocery, hardware stores, maintenance) ask whether the applicant can lift 50 lbs (23 kg) over their head.

Not where I come from (UK) and not where I live (Norway). Can anyone else comment on how widespread this sort of requirement actually is?

Re: Li-ion battery warehouse fire put out with Portland cement (2021)

#160
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are UMBs?

No idea, but from context, maybe they meant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_Dwelling_Unit ? Really weird phrasing either way.

Ureinforced Masonry Building, any firefight in SF will tell you the city is full of them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreinforced_masonry_buildin...

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