In a move expected to boost its building automation portfolio, Honeywell has acquired Li-ion Tamer from Nexceris.
The off-gas detection solution for lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries detects thermal runaway events, which typically precede a full-blown fire.
The acquisition follows a five-year partnership between Honeywell and Nexceris to address lithium-ion battery system safety.
Honeywell says demand for li-ion batteries is expected to grow by over 30 percent annually through 2030, reaching more than US$400 billion.
Accompanying that growth is the requirement for enhanced battery safety solutions.
Monitoring and early detection systems enable essential steps to be taken to avoid or reduce the effects of thermal runaway.
Once a lithium-ion battery catches fire, it can develop dangerous, self-sustaining flames and potentially release shrapnel and toxic gas.
By using early warning technology to detect battery off-gassing, which typically precedes thermal runaway, Li-ion Tamer provides facilities with a critical window to intervene before a battery fire starts.
Li-ion Tamer’s detection technology, which includes more than 30 global patents, can reportedly provide a warning up to 30 minutes in advance.
The need for battery fire detection technology
Li-ion batteries are an increasingly common fire hazard across Australia’s waste management and resource recovery industry.
According to data from the Australian Council of Recycling, 10,000 to 12,000 battery-related fires are estimated to occur annually across the country.
In New South Wales, approximately one in every 40 fires responded to by Fire and Rescue NSW between January and June last year involved li-ion batteries.
Two years ago, Victorian fire services reported they were responding to at least one significant li-ion battery-related fire each week and warned these numbers were expected to rise.
“As lithium-ion battery use grows rapidly across data centres, EV infrastructure and grid-scale energy storage, the risk of fire is increasing in parallel,” Honeywell’s Building Automation president and CEO Billal Hammoud says.
Honeywell’s existing suite of fire detection products includes advanced smoke detection technology and life safety solutions such as VESDA – a solution that detects the earlier signs of a potential fire – and Connected Life Safety Services, hosted on the Honeywell Forge IoT Platform that uses data to deliver the connectivity and intelligence needed for a robust fire system management.
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