The Current Generation wants to stop the use of Diesel and Petrol and move to Electric Cars and Scooters. But some news has scared us. There is news which said that an Electric Shooter suddenly caught fire and two people lost their lives. In another news, the Driver reported that smoke came out of the Electric scooter when he was riding it. Then it caught fire. The Petrol and Diesel Prices in India are sky-high. Now in current situation it is also danger if move on to electric bike. This topic is now spoken in the Social media. Is the Lithium-Ion Battery a Fire hazard? What should we do to stop the battery from catching fire? IF you are using a Lithium-Ion battery in any of your vehicles, you will have a doubt. From your Mobiles, toys to your Electric Cars, we are using Lithium-Ion Batteries. This content will be useful for all people. There are two types of Batteries. The First is Primary, and the next is Secondary Batteries. Under the Primary Section comes the Zinc Carbon batteries. The Zinc-Carbon batteries are low-priced batteries. It is also called Avalanche Cells. The Person who discovered this battery was George Leclanche in 1865. An alkaline battery is a Primary battery which is used and thrown. In the World, Alkaline Batteries are the most used batteries. Next are the Button batteries, which are also Primary Batteries. Next, lest discuss the Secondary batteries. First among them is the Lead-Acid battery, which can be recharged and used for a long duration. The Second most used Secondary battery is the Nickel-Cadmium battery. Now we have started to avoid the Alkaline battery and started to use the Nickel-Cadmium batteries. The Third is the Nickel-Metal-Hydride Batteries (Nigh). The Initial models of Nokia mobiles have Nigh batteries. But the latest mobiles use Lithium-Ion Batteries. The Fuel Cells batteries all come under Secondary Batteries. The Most Used Secondary Battery currently is the Lithium-Ion Battery. We should understand the Working Principle of this battery to come to a conclusion about whether it's a Fire Hazard or not. A Battery has three Main Components. There are two Electrodes and One Electrolyte. In the 1800s, Zinc Carbon batteries were created. Only recently have the Lithium-ion Batteries are being in use. From the 1990s, the Batteries were manufactured by Sony in Large Numbers. From 1991 people started using these batteries. But in 1912 Gilbert Lewis explained the Concept of Lithium-Ion Battery. So after 1912, the Battery went through many tests and re-runs. Finally, in 1991 it was used by the people. Sony started installing these batteries in its Products. Tesla was the company which introduced that these batteries can be used in Cars. In 2008 Tesla introduced a car called the Roadster. The Electric Vehicle Roadster can be charged with Lithium batteries. In 2008 The Lithium Batteries started their raise in Products. So the Era to build Electric Bikes and Cars was started. By 2025 the Lithium-Ion Battery market will be 100 to 200 Billion USD. So this battery has a big place in the Consumer market. In the Next Gen Electric Vehicles, half of the vehicles will have Lithium-Ion batteries. This is the Intro for the Lithium-Ion Battery. How many types are there of the Lithium-Ion battery we use? Totally, we use three types of Lithium-Ion batteries. This is structure-based. The three types are Cylindrical, Prismatic, and Pouch-type. We are not commonly using Cylindrical now. A Hard Plastic will be changed into a Cylinder shape and chemicals will be filled into the Cylinder. There is also Prismatic, which has another shape. The third one, Pouch-type, is commonly used now. Many of us don't know the difference between a battery and a Cell. In a Cell, there will be Electrodes and electrolytes.
Many Layers of Cells are called a battery. For Ex: If you have a laptop, you can see the battery Specification. It may be 8 Cells, 12 cells, or 16 cell batteries. So the 8 Cell battery package has 8 Cells. The 8 Cell package is set up to create a battery. The 8 Cells Layers energy and Backup will be powering the battery. The Difference between 8 Cells and 12 batteries is a longer backup. So this is the Lithium-Ion battery setup. Next, we will discuss its Operations. There will be Electrodes in the Battery. The Positive electrode is called a Cathode. The negative Electrode is called Anode. There will be an Electrolyte. The Positive Electrode is present in high numbers in the battery. It is called Lithium-Cobalt Oxide(LiCoO2). The New Model of Batteries has Lithium Iron Phosphate(LiFePO4) which is a positive electrode. The Negative electrode will be Graphite. Electrolytes will be in a liquid form and recent research has been done on Solid State Electrode. There is an anode and a Cathode, in between them is an Electrolyte. There is also a separator in the battery. We all think that when Electricity is passed through a circuit, the Energy is saved in the battery. This is false. Electricity is not stored in the Battery. It is the first phase of a chemical reaction inside the battery while you charge the battery. So Two electrodes and an Electrolyte is in a battery which has no charge. We have manufactured the battery, and we are going to charge the battery. There is Positive Electrode Lithium-Cobalt Oxide in the battery. When Charging through the Electrolyte, the Lithium-Ion which may be Liquid or Sold State Electrolyte will pass to the negative Electrode which is made of Graphite. When the Charge is completed, the Lithium Ions will be deposited in the Graphite, which is the Negative Electrode. So if all the Positive Lithium Ions have moved to the Graphite means the Battery is completely charged. When using the fully charged battery, the Lithium Ions will go to the Positive Electrode through the Electrolyte. So the Movement of Lithium Ions will denote the charge of the Battery. When moving, the battery receives electrons. So the movement of the Electron will produce Electricity. When this movement process is ongoing and stops, then the process will be halted. For Ex: Your Mobile will be half charged. If you haven't used the Lithium-Ion for long, the Discharge will be very low. So When using the battery there will be Lithium-Ion Movement resulting in the movement of Electrons. So if you don't use your battery, the Lithium-on will have no movement. So the discharge will be very low. It is the reason Lithium-Ion batteries are used by various companies. If a battery is not used for long, the battery’s charge will be decreased. There are external issues. Through Pressure, High Heat or unexpected chemical reactions the Discharge can happen. Now we have understood the Process. The Next Question is, Why is the battery catching fire? The Companies are placing a BMS Circuit with the battery. BMS means Battery management System. This is an Electronic Circuit. The Battery has cells which produce Electricity. The BMS monitors the level and the Heat. If the BMS doesn't work properly, there will be a negative effect on the Chemical reaction. If One Cell is affected, it will spread to other cells. If this happens, the battery will catch fire. We have heard that Samsung Galaxy Note has exploded. Samsung Published a report saying that the Insulation tape was missing in the Mobile. This was the reason for the explosion, said Samsung. Was the Insulation tape the only reason for the mobile exploding? It can be the only reason. There are two Electrodes and an Electrolyte. There is also a separator to separate the electrodes. If the Separator is not placed in the correct position, it will create many issues in the Chemical reaction. There are chances that the battery might explode or catch fire. So BMS must work properly. The Separator must be placed in the correct position. If the battery is damaged and there are issues in the circuit. There are possibilities it will catch fire. The Next is the External heat. Any Electric vehicle should not be charged immediately if it's used. If you can feel the heat on your mobile, you should not charge it. This might lead to an explosion of the device. The Excessive heat may disable the BM's system. So when you charge your mobile while it radiates heat, the Cells will start to leak and might explode. After you have taken a ride in the Electric Vehicle. Let it cool down. Then you can charge the Vehicle. The next issue is using the Official charger for the Device or Vehicle. If a Company produces a Mobile, they will know the Cells in the Battery and the capacity of the cells. Based On this information, they will produce the Company Charger. If you use another company's charger on your mobile. The Chemical reaction will change. The BMS might fail. Cells in the battery might be damaged. This may lead to the device catching fire or exploding. We have discussed Only the Lithium-Ion, its Working Principle and how it is damaged.
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