Paul Rohrbach Lithium Battery as Cargo Airbus Position
Status Million cells / year Usage of Lithium Batteries is growing year on year Particularly because of High energy for low size and weight. The usage in personnel electronic devices demands the transport via air Source: Rockwood Return of Experience from lithium battery incidents should consider failure modes of Lithium Batteries. Current Aircraft certification standards do not address changing industry market needs Cargo compartment fire protection standards not designed for transport of lithium battery This finding has been validated further to FAA tests. The current ICAO DGP packaging regulation are not taking the aircraft limitations in mind The last FAA tests led to the conclusion that transport of lithium Ion batteries represents a similar fire risk to the carriage of lithium Metal batteries At industry level considering increased carriage of lithium Ion batteries the possibility of a fire can not be ruled out.
Awareness of the Cargo Compartment Limitations The CS/FAR25 certified cargo compartments are designed for general cargo The cargo fire protection capability considers such material fires with respect to: Temperature Pressure pulse Smoke pressure Smoke evacuation Fire suppression Lower Deck Class C Cargo Compartment Main Deck Class E Cargo Compartment Class C cargo compartments Applicable to Freighter and Passenger aircraft Have active fire suppression, full passive protection and detection systems Class E cargo compartments Applicable to Freighter aircraft NO active fire suppression and passive protection for essential systems only
Proposed Approach and Outcome Risks related to Lithium Batteries are not just responsibility of Airframe Manufacturers All stakeholders have responsibility in development of mitigation strategies Mitigation strategies should meet the industry needs - but above all consider limitations associated to airframe systems Today The situation today has shown a clear need for improvements Holistic Approach To engage with all parties. Regulator Aviation Administrations ICAO Aircraft Manufacturer Consumer Market Development of Mitigation Strategy Operator Battery Manufacturer Shipper Outcome Awareness of industry needs with individual stakeholder limitations is given
Aircraft Manufacturer Approach The Aircraft Manufacturer Approach Layered protection sequence should be focused at the source of the threat and then expand outward as necessary: Battery Box Container Compartment A/C level
The Way Forward and Benefit The Way Forward to manage the risks Prioritization of the identified risks: 1. Priority is to address transport of lithium battery (Li Ion & Li Metal) on Passenger Aircraft 2. As next step the transport of lithium Metal battery on Freighter Aircraft 3. The transport of lithium Ion batteries on Freighter Aircraft The Benefit of this Process An integrated policy for the Air Transport Industry Lead to agreed mitigation strategies for the safe transport of lithium batteries via air. Puts in place a process to manage future challenges related to the Air Cargo industry
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