C&D World 2024: Mitigating fire risk, maximizing protection

Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our world, powering everything from trucks, cars and scooters to watches, tablets and computers. But these batteries’ potential for fire makes them a threat to the entire solid waste and recycling system, from collection to disposal, warned Gary Marsh, safety manager for Mount Vernon, Washington-based Lautenbach Recycling, in a C&D World Conference & Exhibition session titled “Stopping Fires Before They Start.”

“Our problem is people end up throwing batteries in the recycle bins and even in the trash cans,” Marsh said. “For most, they don’t understand the risk involved with that.”

More than 5,000 fires occur annually at recycling facilities, according to estimates in a new report from the National Waste & Recycling Association, Arlington, Virginia, and Resource Recycling Systems, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based environmental consulting firm. Material recovery facilities (MRFs) increasingly experience catastrophic fires because of lithium-ion batteries that erroneously are placed in recyclables collected from households. As lithium-ion battery usage grows, so will the risk of fires, according to the organizations.

The report says the increased risk of MRF fires has driven up the cost of insuring these facilities. The rate of catastrophic losses has risen by 41 percent over the last five years, with insurance rates increasing from less than 20 cents per $100 insured property value to as much as $10 per $100 insured as providers realize the threat to MRFs from fires, members of the insurance industry say. The fire risk and the cost to insure against them are expected to rise in the coming years as the use of lithium-ion batteries continues to grow exponentially.

Scott Ledford, owner of Metro Site Fabricators in Georgia, understands these risks all too well. He lost his entire MRF after a fire sparked by lithium-ion batteries. Investigators believe the blaze started after a drop-off of more than 200 batteries, which short-circuited after they came into contact with each other, causing a thermal runaway.

Ledford was at home, about 10 miles away from the MRF, when he got the call.

“I could start seeing smoke as I drove, and all I could think about is all the time, all the sleepless nights I spent trying to get this facility like I wanted,” said Ledford, who shared his story with C&D World attendees. “For more than three years straight, I was at that site seven days a week, most of the time 12-plus hours a day. It’s all going up in smoke.”

Thermal threat

Lithium-ion batteries are highly combustible for a few reasons, Marsh explained, including the internal composition of chemicals inside batteries and a tendency to overheat if they are defective or damaged, either due to improper charging or physical damage such as cracking and puncturing.

“Physical damage is a big problem for us in the recycling industry,” Marsh said. “We’re scraping, we’re doing a lot of picking up materials. What can happen in that case? Damage.”

Thermal runaway is one of the primary risks related to damage to lithium-ion batteries, according to the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute, Houston, Texas. It’s a phenomenon in which a lithium-ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state. Once a battery cell is in thermal runaway, it can cause extremely high temperatures, smoke, fire and the ejection of gas, shrapnel or particulates.

Prevention, preparedness, proactivity

In protecting against the potential dangers of fire from lithium-ion batteries, Marsh said the best strategy comes down to prevention, preparedness and proactivity.

Prevention is the first line of defense in a waste disposal environment, he said. Given the risk lithium-ion batteries pose, it’s important for facilities to educate consumers so they understand these batteries should not be placed in their waste or recycling bins. Instead, they should be disposed of through proper channels. The Environmental Protection Agency urges taking lithium-ion batteries to household hazardous waste collection points or to certified battery electronics recyclers, as well as to tape over battery terminals or place batteries in separate plastic bags before disposal.

Next, operators need to prepare by putting into place an emergency action plan and scheduling regular practice runs. The success of a MRF team in containing a fire will come down to how much collective experience the team has in executing the action plan, Marsh said.

Water trucks and fire hydrants can be used against conventional fires, but traditional methods fall short when it comes to lithium-ion battery fires, he said. Instead, a specialized response could involve a fire blanket draped over the fire as an impending shield from flames. Operators should outfit facilities with fire blankets and extinguishers, and water should be used not to extinguish the fire but to cool the fire underneath the blanket. Once the fire has been controlled, the battery should be placed into an area free of other combustibles, Marsh said. Placing batteries in a wet sandbox, for instance, should prevent any further ignition.

Finally, Marsh suggested, operators should think of themselves as frontline defenders against the dangers of a battery fire. Operators must remain vigilant and always watchful for signs of smoke and fire during their operating day. If they see either smoke or fire, they must take a proactive approach, acting with precision born out of experience from training.

Risk mitigation

Randy Bullock, senior independent consultant with Alabama-based General Protection Consultants, provided an overview of the kinds of protection systems insurance companies want to see before providing fire insurance coverage in a waste management environment.

Common fire control systems found in waste management facilities include:

• Automatic sprinkler systems: The first thing insurance companies look for—they’re the best means of protecting a site from fire loss, as the system operates automatically without any action required.
• Early suppression, fast response (ESFR) sprinkler systems: Typically used in high-piled storage facilities, ESFR systems control blazes through a high-momentum flow of water. As they require a lot of water, they’re best for locations that don’t experience freezing temperatures.
• Dry sprinkler systems: Ideal for unheated MRFs, the piping in these non-freeze systems is filled with pressurized air or nitrogen rather than water. When air pressure drops below a set level, indicating the presence of a fire, automatic control valves allow water to flow from automatic sprinklers.  
• Fire Rover: The Farmington Hills, Michigan company’s portable fire suppression system uses around-the-clock, military-grade thermal detection to detect abnormal heat variations and hotspots before a fire flare-up and provides live remote monitoring for early detection and suppression of fires. The patented technology incorporates an automated and targeted suppression system that uses water and a firefighting agent to extinguish fires, and the system is included in the 21st edition of NFPA Fire Protection Handbook.