PACT, Fireproof Solutions launch fire extinguishing solution for lithium-ion batteries

Two companies with a focus on industrial packaging, Watertown, Connecticut-based Packaging and Crating Technologies (PACT) LLC and Reno, Nevada-based Fireproof Solutions Inc., have partnered to launch a product they say extinguishes lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires quickly, safely and neatly.

Called Lion-X, the fire extinguishing agent is designed to instantly contain and destroy fires involving LIBs, battery packs and chargers.

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“Lithium-ion battery fires are nearly impossible to extinguish and usually have to smolder out on their own after burning for many hours and emitting lethal fumes and gases, which makes them doubly dangerous,” PACT President Rodger Mort says. “Safety for first responders, transportation companies and the general public has always been the driving force of our company and we know Lion-X will be a life-saving game-changer for everyone.”

According to PACT, Lion-X is a premixed, water-based agent that forms a low-expansion foam from an aspirating nozzle. The solution is compatible with both portable and wheeled extinguishers for either manual or automatic spraying. The company says the agent also can be piped directly into electric vehicle (EV) battery packs and energy storage system (ESS) modules from agent storage tanks without foaming.

The company adds that Lion-X is able to quench LIB fires upwards of 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit within 30 seconds, typically, while absorbing a greater amount of heat energy. It also transforms smoke formation from lithium-ion fires so that nearly zero hydrogen and methane is produced and released into the environment.

“Our proprietary, American-made solution sticks to 3-D shapes, overhead and vertical surfaces and easily penetrates into small crevices,” Fireproof Solutions CEO Dennis Rediker says. “Additionally, when the fire is completely snuffed out, Lion-X only leaves behind a fine powder residue, which continues to cool surfaces and is easily washed off with a wet cloth or paper towel. Its flexibility and universality are revolutionary.”

Mort notes that spraying Lion-X on ignited B-pack battery cases and chargers also stops thermal runaway, an instance in which a lithium-ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state caused by extremely high temperatures, which can result in the ejection of toxic gas, shrapnel, smoke and fire. PACT says Lion-X keeps the surrounding cells cool so they don’t create a “domino effect” and, potentially, a larger explosive event.

PACT says other benefits of Lion-X are its ability to extinguish fires in other materials such as wood, paper and fiber, as well as items and structures such as furniture, curtains, shelves, cars, boats, carpets, walls and ceilings by preventing the spread of flames without damaging the sprayed items. Further, the solution is designed to be used without personal protective equipment and is safe to wash and flush into sewers.