SAE International has released a new standard document that aids in mitigating risk for the storage of lithium-ion cells, traction batteries, and battery systems intended for use in automotive-type propulsion systems and similar large format (e.g., stationary, industrial) applications.

With the increasing use of lithium-ion batteries in automotive-type applications, a need for recommendations on how to store lithium-ion batteries has been identified due to multiple issues involving battery storage including:

• Hazardous risks associated with electrical and chemical energy contained within the batteries

• General lack of existing industry standards and codes for storage

• Regulations that are in development

• Hazardous events that have occurred in storage facilities

There have been several events involving lithium-ion batteries in storage which have led to the development of new fire codes. These code changes aim to improve the safe storage of lithium-ion batteries, but do not provide specific knowledge about the hazards and mitigations available for every situation. SAE J3235 Best Practice for Storage of Lithium-Ion Batteries was developed to provide guidance for mitigating these potential risks associated with the storage of large format lithium-ion batteries.

—Ronald M. Butler, CEO, ESSPI (Energy Storage Safety Products International) and sponsor of the document

SAE J3235 was developed by both battery industry and fire and emergency response experts to help raise the awareness of the hazards associated with lithium-ion batteries and the steps to take to develop a robust and safe storage plan.

SAE J3235 also provides an overview of fire suppression and detection technologies to help educate the storage industry about the opportunities available to implement in their facilities. As part of a robust plan for storing batteries, J3235 highlights the need to properly identify the battery type(s) to be stored and the storage location and the corresponding considerations for containment, fire detection and suppression, emissions management, and run-off controls.