[quote=Ian W;9385147]
Originally Posted by
capewrath
That is only true of normal fires. But the lithium battery fires do not need any of those to start. They are 'fueled' by chemical/electrical energy and do not need oxygen. All you can do is cool them ideally flooding them with water removing the heat from the exothermic reaction. Many IEDs are made of critical mixes of reducing and oxidizing agents that will 'explosively' react even under water - initiation may be as minor as a knock or vibration or a flash of light. If the mix is varied the reaction may not be explosive but be a violent high temperature fire, A 'peaceful' use of such a mix is a thermite lance which is often used underwater.
In probably forlorn hopes of properly describing the Li battery fire issue and Halon usage I've provided the following document that goes a way towards the issue of Li batteries on aircraft- specifically 787- which was as much mis-repoted by the media as factual andsomehow devolved to the laptop batteries, cell phone batteries, etc.
Note in this case- the batteries at issue are MUCH more poweful etc. Also note that Halon will help to prevent spread of fire- but NOT cool down molten metal
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD
Office of Aviation Safety
Washington, DC 20594
March 7, 2013
Interim Factual Report
NTSB Case Number: DCA13IA037
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Date:
Aircraft/Operator:
January 7, 2013
Boeing 787-8, JA829J, Japan Airlines
Please read the footnote on page 3 re halon.
try
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/A...ual-report.pdf
The ultimate- final cure in this case was to put the batteries in a steel case vented to the outside in case of ' meltdown-arcing, etc '