To the rescue: Can lithium batteries be made safe for flight?

The problem solvers

While manufacturers, shippers, forwarders and carriers all carry the burden of finding an answer to the dilemma of transporting lithium batteries safely, great minds are also at work coming up with technological innovations to solve the problem.

In 1996, a fire incident on a Federal Express DC-10-10CF aircraft prompted the integrator to take on the challenge. The aircraft landed safely at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., but the fire continued to burn, and it destroyed the aircraft. This led FedEx CEO and founder Fred Smith to hire a group of engineers to find a way to put out cargo fires, even those caused by lithium batteries. With a basic concept in place, FedEx engaged Ventura Aerospace to develop it.

The system developed by Ventura is made up of a network of infrared thermal sensors, foaming agent generators and an overhead cargo-container injector. If heat is detected by the sensors, the fire suppression technology is activated and the flight crew is alerted. A device akin to a hypodermic needle punctures the top of the cargo container and the foam is injected, controlling and extinguishing the fire within minutes. According to the company, cargo in other containers would not be affected and the foam would have only minimal impact on packages in the container. For palletized freight, a special fire-retardant blanket is used to cover the cargo, restricting the level of oxygen around the freight.

With the new system installed on all its freighters, FedEx licensed Ventura to sell it to other carriers. However Jeremy Snow, president of Ventura Aerospace, said sales have been slow because the FAA hasn’t mandated a rule change that carriers must have a fire-suppression system. His concern is that adoption of new fire-suppression systems will not be a federal requirement until there is a significant loss of life. “Unfortunately, that is what it’s going to take,” he said.

Snow also said that UPS had shown some interest, but ultimately chose to go its own way. A spokesman for UPS, Mike Mangeot, said the company advocates for stricter regulations on lithium batteries and has implemented several tiers of safety, including fire resistant package containers (FRC); fire-containment covers (FCC) for palletized cargo; quick-donning, fullface oxygen masks; and emergency vision-assurance systems. Additionally, UPS has enhanced crew training and schools its customers in hazardous materials shipping.

Mangeot said UPS developed its FRCs and FCCs with vendors and a joint safety task force. Both the container and cover can contain a fire with a peak temperature of 1,200°F for four hours, which would give pilots time to get on the ground at any point on their routes before disaster strikes. He said the equipment’s fire-suppression material is similar to Kevlar, a synthetic fiber often used in bulletproof vests. Earlier this year, UPS conducted tests (observed by the FAA) that proved the FRCs can mitigate the eruption of combustible gases generated by a lithium battery fire. Additionally, compared to standard ULDs, the FRCs are lighter, which helps with fuel consumption.

AmSafe Bridport, a U.K.-based business that develops engineered textiles designed for safety in the aerospace industry, conducted a full-scale test during which an FCC system successfully prevented a lithium-ion battery fire from spreading for six hours. The FCC is designed for full protection of a pallet load, and AmSafe also makes a separate fire-containment bag for use with smaller shipments. Both products provide passive protection from fire on board, which would give the crew time to make an emergency landing.