Safe use of lithium-ion batteries in the petroleum industry

Background

As a follow-up to a previous report from the PSA and an industry trend towards greater use of lithium-ion batteries, we saw a need to improve participants’ knowledge and understanding of the risk elements involved in this technology, with a focus on its use in petroleum activities.

Objective

The objective of the study was to identify risk factors and make concrete proposals for technical, operational and organisational measures to help make facilities safer. The study was also intended to provide decision-makers and emergency response teams with important information so as to give them a better foundation and conditions for handling failure, hazard and accident situations that involve large lithium-ion installations.   

Results of the work 

The results of this project have proved valuable in increasing knowledge of risk elements, and providing concrete improvement suggestions, as well as broad coverage of issues relating to lithium-ion installations in the petroleum industry.

The PSA wishes to emphasise the following: 

• It is important to have a holistic understanding of the risk elements introduced by installing such battery systems and any effect they may have on original systems and designs.   
• Use and define resources that possess an overarching system integrator role in the planning and installation of battery systems, in order to ensure that existing installations are not being weakened and to obtain proper integration with interacting systems.  
• Include users in the early stages of installation design. It is important to highlight the system’s technical design and behaviour as well as human factors (user interface) and alarm understanding.  
• Current risk analysis methods should be expanded to also assess the risk of explosion in battery rooms. 
• Electrical equipment in the room should be reduced to a minimum and ignition source control must be assured in the event of gas evolution. 
• High-quality manufacture of the battery should be ensured and the design must account for possible defective cells.  
• The positioning of battery rooms on board an offshore facility is important, and efforts must be made to reduce the risk of exposure to external fires and explosions, ship collisions and falling loads. It is also important that an incident in a battery room does not threaten the integrity of safety-critical functions in neighbouring areas.  
• The batteries should be placed in a dedicated room in order to reduce the risk of incidents occurring in the room. 
• Personnel on board must be aware of the hazards associated with large battery capacities and have knowledge of and training in appropriate behaviour in respect of normal use, maintenance and in the event of failure, hazard and accident situations.