Lithium-ion batteries are a common part of everyday life since they power smartphones and other consumer electronics.

However, they can catch fire – and these risks are increased in warehouses where hundreds of thousands of batteries could be stored.

FM Global, an international commercial property insurer, conducted research to refine fire protection guidance for lithium-ion batteries stored in warehouses. The research included large-scale fire tests at the FM Global Research Campus in West Glocester, R.I., home of the largest fire technology lab in the world (108,000 square feet and six stories high).

“When new property hazards emerge, businesses turn to us for answers,” said Louis A. Gritzo, Ph.D., vice president, manager of research at FM Global. “Executives, risk managers, fire protection organizations, municipalities and insurers all need definitive, empirically conclusive information on how to cost-effectively manage this increasingly prevalent storage risk. Now we have it.”

Among the key findings:

• Corrugated board cartons and plastic dividers tend to catch fire before significant involvement of the cartoned batteries.
• Large-format lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in electric cars, generally present a higher hazard than small-format batteries used in smartphones and laptops. Large-format batteries tend to ignite more quickly in a warehouse fire.
• Properly configured ceiling sprinklers can suppress the fire, whether ignited by an exploding battery or an external source.

The tests build on FM Global research reported in May 2013 which, like this latest phase, was conducted in partnership with the nonprofit Property Insurance Research Group and in collaboration with the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Protection Research Foundation .

A detailed report of the testing, data and fire protection recommendations is available for free online at www.fmglobal.com/researchreports, and a summary is available at www.nfpa.org/lithiumbatteryhazards.