Abusive fire tests for E-mobility & Li batteries

CREPIM has been developing since 2017 a pole of excellence dedicated to Reaction to fire of lithium-ion batteries. This pole gathers a complete array of expertises focused on abusive tests, leading to potential fire occurrence. Our strategy consists of to be present on the market with to 2 levels of services.

Abusive Fire tests for Performances validation: UL 2580, UL 1973, IEC 62619, ....

CREPIM has been accredited by COFRAC for his capability to validate lithium-ion batteries performance at different scales (cells, modules, PACKS). Our platform allow us to perform tests for every types of batteries (Stationary, Electric Vehicles, Etc. ) :

UL 2580
UL 1973
R100/R136
UL 9540 A
IEC 62619
UN38.3
SAE J2464
IEC 62133
NF EN 62660-2

Non exhaustive list

CREPIM is completely integrated and skilled to perform a large amount of abusive tests (electric, mechanical, thermal) in order to evaluate the occurrence of inflammation, his seriousness and the propagation mechanisms :

Internal propagation of a battery fire coming from the thermal runaway of a cell (Thermal PAD / Nail penetration).
External fire exposition.
Internal and external short-circuit.
Overcharge test.
Over discharge test.
Thermal cycle.
Thermal shock.
Abusive temperate.
Water immersion.
Drop test.
Crush test.

Development and conception for "low reaction to fire" batterie systems

A engineering team composed of engineers and technicians, is focuses on the development of "low reaction to fire" batteries systems. CREPIM is now able to assist in batteries conception (insulation, sealing, materials, cells, etc.). Batteries can be instrumented on -demand to record on-line as much data as possible (Voltage, Temperature, smoke ejection speed, total quantity of smoke ejected, thermal camera). The data are analyzed to understand the default propagation and to set up mitigation scenarios. A post-mortem analysis is also proposed.

As part of development, CREPIM is also skilled to realize tests at small and medium scales.

Propagation simulation module for modelising heat and flame spread inside the pack

We put several cells in a generci module which we brought into thermal runaway. This test allow us to test insulation, seals, cells, etc.).

Flame resistance test. The material is subjected to different levels of thermal stress, which allows us to make comparison between the different materials composing the “casing” of the battery.

What sets CREPIM apart :

Full capability to perform tests in a control environment, during the entire inflammation cycle of the battery.
Complementary analyses such as smoke toxicity and smoke opacity.
Analysis of the results, action plan proposal, mitigation risk assessment.
A control environmental impact :
- Smoke treatment via a smoke washer.
- Depollution of battery cooling water.