Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Testing Capabilities

The United States Coast Guard is seeking information on organizations that perform fire testing on lithium-ion batteries. The goal is to gather data to inform maritime fire safety policy for Li-ion batteries. The Coast Guard is looking for detailed information on available facilities, services, and technical capabilities for conducting Li-ion battery fire testing. This includes capability overviews, technical descriptions of testing facilities, data collection and instrumentation, suppression system integration, audiovisual recording, test procedures, scalability, safety and environmental protocols, past performance, acquisition options, support and logistics, estimated costs, and contract types. Some key points to consider: • The Coast Guard requires comprehensive test data to understand fire dynamics in a maritime context. • The testing will likely require medium-scale testing to characterize module-level battery fire behavior and large-scale testing to simulate fires within vessel compartments and evaluate suppression system performance. • Responders should provide detailed information on their testing facilities, including size, environmental controls, safety systems, and capacity for small-scale, medium-scale, and large-scale fire testing. • The Coast Guard is also interested in information on data collection and instrumentation, including types of sensors used, accuracy, and data acquisition methods. • Responders should describe their capability to instrument batteries, test beds, enclosures, ventilation, and suppression systems to gather specific data.