Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Suppression
Rapid fire control. Sustained cooling. Propagation management.
Lithium-ion batteries support Australia's transition to electrification, but damaged, defective or overheated cells can experience thermal runaway. The resulting fire can involve rapid heat release, flammable and potentially toxic gases, and the risk that neighbouring cells or modules become involved.
RML AU supplies and supports engineered EZCAFS Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS) designed to control flaming combustion, remove heat and limit thermal energy transfer to adjacent batteries and assets. We develop project-specific protection strategies for battery-containing equipment, storage, charging and industrial applications.
Why lithium-ion battery fires are different
During thermal runaway, a battery cell may continue generating heat and releasing gases even after visible flames have been reduced. Protection therefore needs to look beyond initial flame knockdown and consider sustained cooling, propagation, off-gas hazards, ventilation, separation, emergency response and the potential for re-ignition.
A suppression system should not be represented as stopping the internal chemical reaction of a cell that has already entered thermal runaway. Its design objective may instead be to control the resulting external fire and prevent or reduce escalation to neighbouring cells, modules and assets.
How RML AU CAFS works
CAFS combines water, a selected compatible foam agent and compressed air to produce an aerated suppression medium. For appropriate battery fire configurations, it can provide:
Rapid control of flaming combustion.
Continued wetting and cooling of exposed surfaces.
Reduced thermal transfer to surrounding cells, modules and equipment.
Efficient delivery of firefighting water, with potential reductions in water supply and contaminated runoff requirements.
Fixed, mobile or equipment-specific suppression arrangements designed around the actual hazard.
Our engineering sequence: Understand the battery hazard → Detect and intervene → Control flame → Remove heat → Manage propagation → Assess environmental consequences.
Where lithium-ion battery protection is needed
Battery storage and charging: Industrial battery rooms, charging stations, equipment stores and logistics facilities.
Battery-containing equipment: Electric vehicles, material-handling equipment, mobile machinery and underground mining BEVs.
Waste and recycling: Waste transfer stations, material recovery facilities, battery sorting and battery recycling operations where damaged or concealed batteries can ignite surrounding materials.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Commercial, industrial and utility battery facilities requiring a broader site-specific strategy. [See our dedicated BESS protection page](/bess-fire-suppression).
Each application requires review of battery chemistry, capacity, state of charge, arrangement, enclosure geometry, accessibility and credible fire scenarios.
Lower water demand and firewater consequences
Fire suppression should be judged by its ability to control the defined hazard, not water use in isolation. RML AU/EZCAFS testing has reported approximately 75–85% lower water consumption in certain defined test configurations, when compared with the specific conventional water application used as a benchmark.
Those results do not establish a universal reduction for every lithium-ion fire. A project design must independently establish effective application rates and duration, water storage, distribution, containment and any discharge required for cooling or emergency response.
Reducing unnecessary water demand can also reduce the burden of managing contaminated firewater, where the validated protection strategy allows it.
Fire tests and technical evidence
RML AU's principle is evidence before claims. Available EZCAFS testing considers defined battery configurations and measurements such as state of charge, fire initiation, pre-burn period, discharge flow, flame-control time, cooling, water use, propagation and post-test observations.
RML AU can discuss the relevance and limits of available test data with engineers, asset owners and authorities. Performance observed in one battery configuration must not automatically be applied to another.
Designing a complete battery fire strategy
Suppression should be coordinated with early detection and alarms, battery management and isolation, fire separation, ventilation and off-gas considerations, access, emergency-response arrangements, runoff management, and testing and commissioning. Relevant codes, standards and authority requirements depend on the installation and jurisdiction.
gency procedures remain important.
defined fire scenarios. Water reductions in individual tests are not a substitute for project-specific design validation.
Discuss your project
RML AU works with owners, fire engineers, designers, insurers and emergency-service stakeholders to assess advanced protection for lithium-ion battery hazards in Australia.
Email: gary@rowemanagement.com
Telephone: 0433 496 254
Download: Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Protection — RML AU technical flyer [upload PDF and add link]
Design and performance claims are application-specific and subject to engineering assessment, supporting evidence and relevant authority requirements.