What's (hopefully) getting popular in gliders now is lithium *iron* (LiFePO4) rather than lithium-ion. That one little r is the difference between a fireball and a sizzle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery#Safety]
On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 8:55 PM, Mark Newton <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 25/02/2013, at 8:33 PM, Craig Vinall <[email protected]> wrote: > > Thought this may be of interest. I know that these batteries are becoming > popular in gliders; what do others think? Is there a potential fire risk? > > > Probably the wrong question to ask, given that you could just as easily > inquire into whether > there's a potential fire risk inherent in carrying around tanks of volatile > hydrocarbons. > > More useful questions would be, "Under what conditions can a fire start," > and, "Once it > has started, what can you do about it?" > > By my money, the worst parts about the event in NY weren't associated with > the fact that > the batteries caught fire; the worst bits were the fact that Boeing had > assured the FAA > that thermal runaway was impossible (it clearly wasn't) and the fact that it > took fire crews, > with all their training and specialized equipment, more than 40 minutes to > extinguish it. > > Could have been worse -- could have been over the Pacific somewhere at the > limits of > ETOPS. > > ANA has grounded their 787s until at least May, so there'll be a lot of time > to ponder those > issues before they start flying again. > > - mark > > > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
