Extinguishing, or cooling, an electric car (EV) fire
How to cool down and limit the radius (spread) of an EV on fire? To suppress an EV on fire on a road, or onboard a car carrying ferry?
The facts are :
- It’s extremely hot near a burning car,
- there’s a lot of (lethal) smoke emitted from a battery (and car) fire.
Thus, it is difficult to approach a burning EV.
(click to enlarge – opens a new window)
Let’s imagine that the outside body of the EV is intact – and that the doors are closed. If the doors are closed, then the inside of the car forms a pool – all the way up to the windows. That’s at least 50 cm of water depth, if one would break a window and fill ‘er up – with the feed of a fire-hose through the window.
The fire hose would be left hanging into the car, continuously feeding the car with water.
How to get to the violently heat emitting car?
Would a fire-hose, set to spray a wall of mist, be sufficient? I suppose so, however I am no expert in this area. In any case, all here described steps can be performed from a distance, at least with extension sticks that have a gripping function.
Ok, so we have an EV with water inside, starting to reach the windows.
Outside the EV, around the car, a perimeter of sheet metal ‘buckets’ are placed. These water holders of sheet metal are basically open-ended buckets, interconnected to form a wall of water around the car. Pretty much like houses are protected from flooding by sand bags – around the perimeter of a house.
Sheet metal pieces, the specs
Each length of sheet metal would be 100 cm long, with a material thickness of 2 mm. Width and depth of water holding capacity (volume) to be more exact calculated. Dimensions here given are only to project the general idea.
Handles for lifting and moving are incorporated, near the top of the outside part of the wall length – thus these lengths would be stack-able. Say (10 x 4 cm) rectangular openings, slots allowing for all fingers to lift.
(the drawing has the handles located on the side of the outside wall of the lengths, which would not allow for stacking)
The corner pieces would be constructed the same way, only difference being the 90 degree turn.
Windows overflowing
These buckets are pushed up against the car, with already some lengths interlaced – ends overlapping. Each length of metal sheet bucket is slightly narrower on the left side, thereby snugly fitting the next length. Snugly enough to hold water. Standing on the ground, these buckets act very much as sand bags would do; their own weight forming a wall, when filled with water. Water, coming from above, overflowing the broken windows.
- If one does have sand bags available, one could very well use these as the initial weigh-down of buckets, as these would be protected from the heat by a wall of sheet metal.
Submerged EV battery
When these ‘water-holding-buckets’ start to fill up, they eventually overflow – towards the inside of its perimeter. Thereby creating a pool of water, starting to fill up – beneath the EV.
When the water level / height of water has reached about 40 cm, the EV battery ought to be submerged. The extent of emitted heat and smoke ought to drastically diminish. With these two before mentioned factors very much decreased, one is able to approach the car – to take measures to strengthen the perimeter around the car, that is holding the pool of water in place.
If successful with above mentioned procedure, then the local atmosphere / surrounding is protected from much of the smoke. Not to mention the possible other material damages, or treats to human or animal life.
Further improvements
Depending on the height of the burning EV, the height of the sheet metal lengths can be heightened with separate flat pieces of sheet metal. Which would be set into place once the heat and smoke has decreased. Sand bags could be placed outside the perimeter of the sheet metal, to strengthen the wall.
In case the perimeter of sheet metal holds water inside, that is without leaking much, one should allow for water to overflow – for example through the incorporated handles that are just rectangular holes in the sheet wall. Otherwise, once water starts to reach the top of the outside wall, there’s a risk of the perimeter breaking down – from the pressing volume of water under the car.
(click to enlarge – opens a new window )
Tags :
#EV #fire #car #ferry #extinguish #boat #battery #carcarrier #shoppingcenter #parkinghouse #house
About the author
Martin R.C. Andersson started out as a mechanical engineer, slowly developing a soft spot for project management – in which he has worked 10 years as a project manager.
Although having resigned from a corporate career within project management (2015), the soft spot he keeps alive through a keen interest in room environment treatment. By control of sound and light, looking to tweak for that disturbance-free listening… …which should be a norm.
Values silence, and now and then solitude. Thinks Mindfulness is a ‘state of being’ when work really gets done. When thoughts flow – without disruption – to reach either a creative state or finish what’s at hand.
When the outside world is tuned out, performance is tuned in.
Feels best when Minimalism, Functionalism and Art come together.
An inventor by nature.
Other solutions – for sale : e-shop