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I've wondered if maybe it's possible to pack batteries with a relatively harmless material that undergoes a very energy-intensive phase change. Water's the obv
by elihu 4y ago
I've wondered if maybe it's possible to pack batteries with a relatively harmless material that undergoes a very energy-intensive phase change. Water's the obvious choice, but it tends to drain away rather than stick around long enough to turn to steam. Maybe there's a better material, or ways to design battery cooling systems so that a burning battery turns into a very efficient steam generator, and thus can be cooled adequately with much less water.
I've also wondered if maybe EV's should be designed with an easy-to-access coolant loop. For instance, maybe you have a fixture you can connect a garden hose to in order to pump cold water through channels in the battery modules for emergency cooling. (Most EVs have liquid cooling already, so this could be in addition to that, or maybe you hook into the existing system and the already-present coolant gets flushed out.)
- trhway 4y ago>Water's the obvious choice, but it tends to drain away rather than stick around long enough to turn to steam. just add something gel-forming into the water or some fiber/dust (even just gluten flour) that absorbs a lot of water and turns into kind of watery dough.
- _morgs_ 4y agoMy Tesla caught fire but at least I now have a year's supply of sourdough bread
- HPsquared 4y agoProblem with that is, it might block the addition of more water. If the 'way in' for the water gets blocked, but the battery continues to burn.
- lazide 4y agoThey do this at airports. The easy answer is foam. The problem it turns out is making large quantities of water based foam (without making it flammable somehow) is easiest when using perflourinated compounds. Oops.
- staticautomatic 4y agoIn buildings they call your hose idea a “standpipe”