Battery fire suppression

Packaging and Crating Technologies (PACT) in Connecticut has developed a patented, fire-suppressant packaging wrap called PACT Thermo Shield, designed to control lithium battery thermal runaway, which causes fires.

The product has passed the proposed testing standards of the SAE International for safety in shipping lithium-ion batteries via land, sea and air.

“Lithium-ion batteries are in most every electronic device you own whether it be for work or play and can become hazardous if they’ve been damaged or have some kind of defect, ultimately causing devastating, explosive fires ,” said Rodger Mort, president of PACT, LLC.

PACT Thermo Shield is a lightweight, pleated, paper material with a non-toxic, moisture vapor application that prevents thermal runaway, a phenomenon in which the lithium-ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state caused by extremely high temperatures, shaking or puncturing during transit. 

Thermal runaway can result in the ejection of toxic gas, shrapnel and/or particulates, as well as smoke and fire.  If this occurs, the protective PACT Thermo Shield wrap immediately cools the internal environment of the package, while limiting oxygen around the payload. This process prevents the thermal runaway from spreading to other areas of the package, thus, suppressing a potential fire and shielding the surrounding environment from damage.

In the event of a fire, Mort notes that PACT Thermo Shield is capable of containing temperatures up to 800 degrees Celsius or nearly 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, while restricting the temperature outside of the wrap to 60 degrees Celsius/140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Besides transporting and storing items that contain lithium-ion batteries, Mort notes that PACT Thermo Shield also provides an eco-friendly way to ship or transport products safely to a battery recycler. The company recently unveiled a smaller product- the TR Envelope to safely transport and store recyclable smaller devices such as cell phones, pagers, smartwatches and A-D batteries.