The Firechief Lith-Ex Fire Extinguisher Range is Perfect for Commercial Premises!

The Firechief Lith-Ex extinguisher range is ideal for tackling Lithium-Ion battery fires in commercial premises.  The high performance Lith-Ex extinguishers contain AVD (Aqueous Vermiculite Dispersion) compound - a revolutionary fire extinguishing agent - and are designed to target high risk fires of a limited size. They are suited to confined spaces such as offices, hotel rooms, vehicles, public transport, aviation and marine applications where a fire needs to be suppressed in its infancy before it can develop into an established fire.

Lith-Ex extinguishers are designed to extinguish Lithium-based battery fires such as those which may occur with personal electronic devices, for example, mobile phones and tablets. They can also be used to protect against fires where batteries are under charge – such as in offices and schools - and where batteries are stored; for example, goods distribution, battery collection bins, battery recycling locations, public services, battery charging stations and many other scenarios.

Firechief Lith-Ex Extinguishers are compact, easy to store and lightweight in comparison to conventional extinguishers.   They are also non-toxic and environmentally friendly and will extinguish uncontrollable flames, quickly cool the excessive heat and prevent re-ignition;  something that an ABC powder extinguisher or other liquid-based extinguishers will not be able to do on a Lithium-ion battery fire.

How it works:

When a lithium-ion cell goes into thermal runaway (increase in temperature) there are multiple possible sources of heat, for example:

• Combustion – burning of electrolyte, packaging etc.,
• Ohmic – resistive heating caused by high current flow through short circuits
• Thermodynamic – if the electrodes are no longer isolated then the system will revert to its lowest energy state for that temperature if the activation energy is met,
• Chemical – reaction of the electrode material with other components of the battery (electrolyte), thermal decomposition of the metal oxide electrode, especially cobalt oxide.

Top tips to minimize the risk of fire or explosion in Lithium-Ion Batteries

The risk of fire or explosion increases if the Lithium-Ion battery is exposed to hot conditions or the battery or internal components are damaged, so simply dropping or crushing your mobile phone could cause it to catch fire. To reduce the risk of a battery fire incident:

• Avoid storing devices with lithium-ion batteries in places with high temperatures such as in a hot vehicle or even a warm pocket.
• Avoid overcharging devices.
• Avoid keeping lithium ion battery devices together. This may be unavoidable but try to keep some space between the devices. Although having lithium-ion batteries in close proximity does not increase the risk of a fire, if there is an accident, the other batteries could catch fire and make the situation worse. Lithium Battery Fires can quickly exceed temperatures of 800ºC – three times hotter than an oven!

Lith-Ex extinguishers are a safe and reliable choice and are designed, tested and manufactured in Europe, ensuring complete control over the quality of this technically advanced product.  They are available in a range of sizes starting from 500ml and up to 1L, 2L, 6L and 9L.

For more information on our safety products, contact our sales team on 0330 999 0019, email us at sales@firechiefglobal.com or to see our full range of fire safety products visit our website at www.firechiefglobal.com