Seoul Fire Department Conducts 'Electric Vehicle Fire Reenactment Experiment' to Find Optimal Extinguishing Methods

Joint Electric Vehicle Fire Simulation with Related Agencies at Seoul Fire Academy on 15-16
Electric Vehicle Fires Are Difficult to Extinguish Due to Battery Thermal Runaway... Exploring Various Firefighting Methods

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 16th that it conducted an electric vehicle fire reenactment experiment to develop effective fire suppression and life rescue measures, considering the increasing trend of related fires along with the spread of electric vehicles.

This fire reenactment experiment, characterized by applying various extinguishing methods considering the characteristics of electric vehicle fires, was held over two days on the 15th and 16th at the Seoul Fire Academy, with officials from the Fire and Disaster Headquarters, the National Fire Research Institute, and the Korea Fire Institute in attendance.

As the cumulative number of registered electric vehicles exceeded 250,000 by the first quarter of this year, according to the National Fire Agency, a total of 69 domestic electric vehicle fires occurred over four years from 2017 to 2020. Recently, on the 4th, an electric vehicle traveling toward Changwon on the Namhae Expressway in Busan collided with a tollbooth shock absorber and caught fire, resulting in the deaths of two people, including the driver.

Unlike fires in conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicle fires have the characteristic that when a 'battery thermal runaway' occurs, they cannot be extinguished by general methods. Various fire suppression measures have been proposed. The Fire and Disaster Headquarters used an electric vehicle provided by Hyundai Motor Group to actually reenact the fire and meticulously measure data while experimenting with various fire suppression methods.

The fire suppression methods applied in the experiment included ▲ cooling extinguishing by large-volume water application ▲ water application after installing an oxygen deprivation cover ▲ extinguishing using a cooling water tank. Officials from participating organizations first conducted a ‘Electric Vehicle Fire Characteristics Confirmation Experiment’ to measure the thermal runaway phenomenon of lithium batteries and the temperature at each fire stage from ignition to natural extinguishment.

In the subsequent ‘Cooling Extinguishing Experiment by Large-Volume Water Application,’ they tested how large amounts of water applied during a lithium battery thermal runaway affect fire suppression and whether internal combustion engine vehicle structural techniques can be applied to electric vehicles. Additionally, to effectively extinguish electric vehicle fires, they experimented with the recently devised oxygen deprivation cover method as well as an extinguishing method using a cooling water tank for electric vehicle fire suppression to measure effectiveness.

Meanwhile, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters plans to organize the data and experimental results obtained from this experiment and produce manuals and videos for use not only by Seoul Fire but also by other local governments. Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, “As electric vehicle distribution becomes widespread with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, solutions for safety are also necessary. Based on this experiment, we will make every effort to prepare measures to protect the lives of the public.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.