Simple chemistry and physics dictate that putting water on an electric vehicle fire results on the fire making its own fuel.
The fire is using the vehicle's electric batteries to separate the hydrogen from the water ( H2O ) being used by the fire fighters.
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The triangle of combustion is Heat + Fuel + oxygen. In order for the fire to be extinguished you have to remove one or more of the links from the Triangle of Combustion.
I could easily be wrong here, but I assume that the only part of the 'Triangle of Combustion' that can be attacked in these fires is the 'Heat' side. Therefore, pouring massive quantities of water eventually cools the batteries below the combustion threshold (even though it creates some oxygen in the meantime).
That having been said, I wonder if they could 'remove Oxygen' by deploying a 'huge non-flammable blanket' over a Tesla in order to smother the flame.
Food for thought... (I'm only asking for a 1% royalty)
Lithium is a monofuel, it can burn without oxygen. Added to this is that water makes it burn even more. The only way to put these fires out is to bury them in dry sand or earth.
No worries! Having taken a couple EV fire fighting classes it’s been proven these work well to help prevent runaway fire in the battery pack. It doesn’t extinguish the fire but helps to control it well.
Wait till you find out what towing companies have to have for EVs.
I k8nda work for a tow company. Ive gotten a few snippets of things they are going to be required to have or have access to.
They have to either have a concrete pit or a roll off container to store the vehicle in. If they have either,they have to have access to a roll off container. They need to have a water truck or access to 1.
In massachusetts,EVs will be banned from parking garages. Theres no way to get fire apparatus in the garages or a way to drag a burning vehicle out. I believe boston has banned them already. My city will be banning them fro
Insurance companies are not gonna send somebody out to pick up a clump of melted plastic. The tow companies are gonna get stuck with these. Scrapyards arent gonna pay anything for a clump of plastic. They are gonna have to take the owners to court to pay for disposal of these vehicles.
A friend of mine works for a towing company and there are requirements they adhere to when dealing with EV's and because of this the owner of the EV pays more if it's brought back to their company for a hold.
Simple chemistry and physics dictate that putting water on an electric vehicle fire results on the fire making its own fuel.
The fire is using the vehicle's electric batteries to separate the hydrogen from the water ( H2O ) being used by the fire fighters. . The triangle of combustion is Heat + Fuel + oxygen. In order for the fire to be extinguished you have to remove one or more of the links from the Triangle of Combustion.
I could easily be wrong here, but I assume that the only part of the 'Triangle of Combustion' that can be attacked in these fires is the 'Heat' side. Therefore, pouring massive quantities of water eventually cools the batteries below the combustion threshold (even though it creates some oxygen in the meantime).
That having been said, I wonder if they could 'remove Oxygen' by deploying a 'huge non-flammable blanket' over a Tesla in order to smother the flame.
Food for thought... (I'm only asking for a 1% royalty)
Lithium is a monofuel, it can burn without oxygen. Added to this is that water makes it burn even more. The only way to put these fires out is to bury them in dry sand or earth.
Damn, I was hoping to retire on my blanket royalties.
Is there any way to talk the lithium into needing oxygen? You know, by calling it racist or something...
Alternatively, Teslas may need to be outfitted with automated 'Stop, Drop, and Roll' servos to deal with fires.
Darley fvehicle fire blankets
They work well. My fire dept bought two recently.
Thanks for the link! It satisfies my curiosity for a proof of concept.
No worries! Having taken a couple EV fire fighting classes it’s been proven these work well to help prevent runaway fire in the battery pack. It doesn’t extinguish the fire but helps to control it well.
I wonder if the car manufacturers could wrap the batteries with this type of blanket (internally) as a standard feature. (With proper venting, etc.)
Then maybe people would be willing to park their EV's inside their garage...
Maybe Elon Musk should develop technology to shoot water jets from "space", whenever his automobiles catch fire.
I own an old fire truck. It has a 500 gallon water tank. It would have taken 72 trucks to put out this fire.
Wait till you find out what towing companies have to have for EVs.
I k8nda work for a tow company. Ive gotten a few snippets of things they are going to be required to have or have access to.
They have to either have a concrete pit or a roll off container to store the vehicle in. If they have either,they have to have access to a roll off container. They need to have a water truck or access to 1.
In massachusetts,EVs will be banned from parking garages. Theres no way to get fire apparatus in the garages or a way to drag a burning vehicle out. I believe boston has banned them already. My city will be banning them fro
Insurance companies are not gonna send somebody out to pick up a clump of melted plastic. The tow companies are gonna get stuck with these. Scrapyards arent gonna pay anything for a clump of plastic. They are gonna have to take the owners to court to pay for disposal of these vehicles.
The fires from all these ev's will be so massive it will block out the sun
A friend of mine works for a towing company and there are requirements they adhere to when dealing with EV's and because of this the owner of the EV pays more if it's brought back to their company for a hold.
Not to mention the tendency of some to burst into flames again after being extinguished.
The main method is let it burn and protect exposures. Doesn’t work when in a garage or parking structure. But out in a corn field? Sure does.
In Europe they have a dumpster filled with water on a truck and a crane that picks up the burning vehicle and places it into the water.
And how toxic is the "waste" water that runs off of the burning EV ?
Watch the water! Now if this isn’t a waste of resources and contributor to climate change, nothing is!
Wouldn't foam cut off the oxygen??