Industrial Fire Safety & Energy-Storage Hazards

Industrial Fire Safety & Energy-Storage Hazards

Industrial settings present complex fire and explosion challenges: large spills, hazardous materials, confined spaces, and emerging hazards such as lithium-ion battery systems. At Waterloo we address both the traditional industrial fire domain and the next-generation risks introduced by energy-storage technologies.

Hazardous Material Storage & Combustible Environments

Investigation into use, storage and handling of combustible materials in industrial settings focuses on scenarios such as

  • large-scale liquid fuel spills and pool fires

  • flammable / explosive dust-gas mixtures (e.g., cement kiln gas/dust environments)

  • fire spread, radiation, explosion propagation and structural fire impacts.

This foundational research supports risk-assessment, performance-based design and industrial process safety.

Lithium-Ion Battery Storage & Explosion Dynamics

Modern industrial systems increasingly integrate lithium-ion battery energy storage (BESS), which introduces new fire/explosion modes:

  • Thermal runaway of cells/modules in storage racks.

  • Vent-gas ignition, flame acceleration, pressure-rise in confined rooms.

  • Large-scale pack failures and cascading events analogous to fuel spills those in industrial plant fire and explosion scenarios.

Combining energy-storage hazard research with traditional industrial fire science, we offer novel insights for the safe design of battery storage rooms, manufacturing facilities and grid-scale electrified infrastructure.

Applications & Impact

Our research enables:

  • Design guidelines for storage rooms, BESS enclosures, charging hubs, chemical plants, manufacturing sites and logistical hubs.

  • Industrial risk assessments (qualitative & quantitative) to evaluate explosion potential, fire spread and structural integrity under unique hazard conditions.

  • Training tools and mitigation strategies for fire services and industrial safety teams facing emerging threats (e.g., lithium-ion incidents, large-spill fuel fires).

Partnerships & Collaboration

We leverage interdisciplinary partners including:

  • Industry collaborators operating battery-energy storage systems and manufacturing facilities.

  • Fire services and hazardous-materials response teams addressing both traditional industrial fires and new-age energy hazards.

  • Government and standards bodies defining codes for batteries, energy storage, manufacturing, and process safety.