Researchers have discovered the root cause of why lithium metal batteries fail, challenging a long-held belief in the field. The study presents new ways to boost battery performance and brings research a step closer to incorporating lithium anodes into rechargeable batteries.
Source: Study Identifies Main Culprit Behind Lithium Metal Battery Failure
Source: Fidget spinner recalled for failing the button battery test
“An investigation has been launched …after an 11-year-old boy in Victoria reportedly suffered a serious eye injury from one of the models. A 10-year-old girl in the United States has also reportedly swallowed a small part of one of the models.”
Source: “http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-19/fidget-spinners-probe-launched-in-wa/8540730
/assets/js/kidspot-ie8-1494562072.js
Fidget spinners banned in schools after boy almost loses eye – Kidspot
“He threw the spinner up a little higher,” Molly said, “and he didn’t manage to catch the spinner but it came down and clipped the corner of his eye and crunch. He was very lucky not to lose his eyesight let alone his eyeball.”
A young girl aged 10 in Houston was taken “to the emergency room after the girl swallowed part of her fidget spinner. (She) had put a metal piece of her fidget spinner in her mouth to clean it, and it went down her throat. (She was taken) to the Texas Childrens Hospital, where an X-ray revealed the part—called a bushing—was stuck in her esophagus. The girl had to have surgery to “endoscopically locate and remove the object,” which was about the size of a quarter…
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/fidget-spinners-injuries-kids-choking-611491
She had just bought her 3 year old grandson the Fidget Spinner, and he and his mother were riding with her in the car. “He was playing with it going down the road,” then the child’s mother noticed the spinner had come apart and the child had the parts in his hand, including a small battery that lights up.
Source: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/grandmother-warns-popular-toy-could-be-a-choking-hazard/517930032
Source: Woolworths Limited — Halloween Flashing Tumbler and Goblet
The battery cover can be opened without the use of a tool. This could allow young children to access the button batteries inside.
Ingestion of button cell batteries by young children can cause internal burns which may lead to serious injury or death.
Samsung tested the batteries in its recalled Galaxy Note 7 using a CTIA-certified lab owned by the electronics giant, according to The Wall Street Journal… Lithium ion batteries for cellphones sold in the United States are tested in accordance with IEEE 1725 at […]
Eddie Forouzan, a member of the IEEE committee that developed the battery standard, (said) battery safety failure rates have dropped to parts per billion from the parts-per-million level that accompanied a flood of cheap batteries that proliferated in the early 2000s
A U.S. ban on carrying Note 7 cellphones on commercial aircraft either in cabin or in checked luggage (is in effect)
Samsung Electronics Co. was sued on Friday by a Florida man who said he suffered severe burns after his Galaxy Note 7 smartphone exploded in his front pants pocket…
Source: U.S. Lawsuit Against Samsung Claims Injuries from Galaxy 7 Explosion
The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester issued a reminder to airline passengers to carefully consider items in their carry-on luggage after a lithium battery in a passenger’s carry-on bag caught fire at Sydney Airport.“ On this occasion the battery caught fire while the plane was on the ground and the issue was resolved. Whilst there was no damage to the aircraft, several passengers did report feeling ill.
Source: Travel warning: carriage of lithium ion batteries on aircraft
“The ACCC’s investigation found there are fire safety risks from defective charging devices, electrical circuitry and substandard lithium-ion batteries. “There have already been six house fires in Australia directly linked to the scooters, which has resulted in the destruction of two houses.“
The ACCC will work with state and territory electrical safety regulators to develop a longer-term solution.
Source: New mandatory safety standard (self-balancing scooters)
What we would give to have another chance to hear your voice, to feel your kiss and to see you grow,” wrote the Rees family in Isabella’s tribute.
At the age of one, Isabella swallowed a button battery. No one knows precisely when. It lodged in her oesophagus, and made her sick.
Her parents took her to hospital several times over two weeks, but staff didn’t pick up the presence of the battery until it was too late, the Coroners Court heard on Thursday.
She died in the morning of February, 4, 2015, from cardiac arrest, on the operating table at Sunshine Hospital.
Source: She woke in a pool of blood: hospital misdiagnosed baby who swallowed button battery, coroner hears
The affected batteries have the potential to overheat.
Risk of fire and burn hazard.
Source: HP PPS Australia Pty Ltd—HP Notebook Computer Batteries
What are the defects?
There is a risk that the rechargeable battery pack may overheat cause smoke or may ignite.
What are the hazards?
If the defect occurs, there is a risk of a fire or a burn hazard to consumers and to the CF-S10 Panasonic Toughbook Computer
Source: Panasonic Australia Pty Ltd—Rechargeable Battery Pack CF-VZSU61U
A new lithium-ion battery shuts down before overheating and then restarts once it cools down, preventing fires that have plagued electronic devices. The new battery technology, developed by Stanford University Professor Zhenan Bao and her colleagues, could prevent the kind of fires that have prompted recalls and bans on a wide range of battery-powered devices
Source: New Li-ion battery won’t overheat :: Industry News :: ElectronicsOnline
When lithium-ion batteries overheat, they can burn through internal pockets, burst into flames, and even explode. One reason such damage can occur is the formation of dendrites—finger-like deposits of lithium that can grow long enough to pierce the barrier between a lithium-ion battery’s halves and cause it to short out.
Dendrites form when a battery electrode degrades and metal ions deposit onto the electrode’s surface. …
In their latest work, Stanford researchers used chemicals designed to prevent dendrite formation.
Researchers at MIT and Samsung, and in California and Maryland, have developed a new approach to one of the three basic components of batteries, the electrolyte. The new findings are based on the idea that a solid electrolyte, rather than the liquid used in today’s most common rechargeables, could greatly improve both device lifetime and safety — while providing a significant boost in the amount of power stored in a given space.
Typically a liquid organic solvent whose function is to transport charged particles from one of a battery’s two electrodes to the other during charging and discharging — has been responsible for the overheating and fires that, for example, resulted in a temporary grounding of all of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jets …
““All of the fires you’ve seen, with Boeing, Tesla, and others, they are all electrolyte fires. The lithium itself is not flammable in the state it’s in in these batteries. [With a solid electrolyte] there’s no safety problem — you could throw it against the wall, drive a nail through it — there’s nothing there to burn.”
Source: Going solid-state could make batteries safer and longer-lasting | MIT News
Overview:
A battery can catch fire due to an internal short circuit. When a short circuit occurs, it causes overheating of the cells within a battery, which can ultimately lead to a condition known as “thermal runaway”, which doesn’t typically confine itself to just one cell. Increasing pressure and temperature within a cell can cause it to explode and vent its contents. This can lead to neighboring cells going into thermal runaway as well.
Lithium fires are unique in that they are not typically extinguished in the same manner as ordinary combustible fires. Depending on the type of battery, non-traditional extinguishing agents, such as halotron or copper powder, may be needed. A lithium metal fire is treated differently from a lithium-ion fire in that each requires different firefighting agents.
See more information at via How Lithium Batteries Become a Workplace Hazard – Lion Technology.
This presentation was written by Paul W Robinson, Australia, and presented to the IEEE Symposium on Product Compliance Engineering (ISPCE) in Chicago in May 2015. It covers the identification of risks to children associated with the use of button or coin batteries or cells, the prevalence and severity of harm to children worldwide, and what can be done to mitigate the severity and frequency of injuries. An author’s copy of the PDF version of the submitted presentation is available at the link.
via Child safety – button or coin batteries (Ingestion risks and preventative measures) | paulspiece.com.
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