Fire Protection for Dry Rooms for Batteries?

3/11/2025

How would you recommend protecting a dry room for battery operations, such as battery testing or packaging?

I've been designing these with dry systems but was curious if there are any codes to omit sprinklers, or if anyone uses clean agent systems?

If you use something alternatively, why do you go that direction?

Moderator's Note: Dry Rooms for batteries have less moisture to avoid corrosion and any chemical reaction for the batteries, which would degrade or reduce performance. Very low moisture is the key for a dry room for batteries.

Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe

4 Comments

Glenn Berger

3/11/2025 08:21:51 am

Does the balance of the facility require sprinklers to be provided? If sprinklers are required for the rest of the facility you will need to contact the authorities to get their approvals.

Jesse

3/11/2025 08:22:00 am

As an industry, battery protection in every form is, in my opinion, the most pressing issue we face.

Clean agent can be an option provided the room meets the requirements. I would never recommend omitting AS protection, especially for a product with such significant thermal runaway potential.

I know a lot of property insurers are looking at other means of protection for areas like recycling plants where batteries pose a huge risk.

John Callahan

3/11/2025 08:22:11 am

Refer to NFPA 855, Section 4.9.2.1

Dan Wilder

3/11/2025 09:28:07 am

So many questions....

What is the battery chemistry? If water is going to cause more issues, then some gaseous system may need to be the primary.

What charge level can be expected for the batteries?

For the testing aspect, is this QAQC, initial charge and discharge back to a level for shipping, or an effort to break the battery?

Are their protocols for disconnecting and/or removal of the battery in case of failure or is it in place and the protection/suppression system needs to deal with the resulting fire? Is the racking broken up into individual "cubbies"? Any solid horizontal or vertical separations?

Last facility we had the following (mostly FM 8-34 guidelines):and was a mix of overhead, IRAS for standard racking and ASRS. Most balanced in rack & overhead designs. QAQC fell into the MFG area but was separated from adjacent hazards with rated walls. The defective cell building was K25's @ 35 PSI but only a 15' storage height and was physically separated from the main building by over 100'.

Leave a Reply.

Home
Our Cause

The Blog
The Forum

PE Exam Prep
The Toolkit
MeyerFire University

Pricing
Login
Support
Contact Us

MeyerFire.com is a startup community built to help fire protection professionals shine.
Our goal is to improve fire protection practices worldwide. We promote the industry by creating helpful tools and resources, and by bringing together industry professionals to share their expertise.

MeyerFire, LLC is a NICET Recognized Training Provider and International Code Council Preferred Education Provider.
All text, images, and media Copyright © 2016-2024 MeyerFire, LLC

We respect your privacy and personal data. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The views, opinions, and information found on this site represent solely the author and do not represent the opinions of any other party, nor does the presented material assume responsibility for its use. Fire protection and life safety systems constitute a critical component for public health and safety and you should consult with a licensed professional for proper design and code adherence.

Discussions are solely for the purpose of peer review and the exchange of ideas. All comments are reviewed. Comments which do not contribute, are not relevant, are spam, or are disrespectful in nature may be removed. Information presented and opinions expressed should not be relied upon as a replacement for consulting services. Some (not all) outbound links on this website, such as Amazon links, are affiliate-based where we receive a small commission for orders placed elsewhere.

Fire Protection for Dry Rooms for Batteries?

Leave a Reply.

ALL-ACCESS

SUBSCRIBE

COMMUNITY

YOUR POST

PE EXAM

FILTERS

ARCHIVES

PE PREP SERIES