There are mechanical, electrical and control strategies in place to prevent a battery pack going into thermal runaway but at some point these are likely to fail and hence the need for fire suppression.
The basic list of extinguishants [1]:
- Water Extinguishants
- Foam Extinguishants
- Powder/Dry Powder Extinguishants
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
- Halon-Based Extinguishants
Note: Do not let used extinguishing media penetrate into surface water or ground water.
A great starting point is this presentation by Dr Wojciech Mrozik as part of the SafeBatt Faraday Institution project.
Renault Fireman Access
an adhesive disc is placed over an opening in the casing of the vehicle’s traction battery, effectively sealing it for normal use. If the vehicle catches fire and the flames spread to the battery, the powerful jet from the fire hose dislodges the disc and drenches the cells in water – the only fast and effective way of stopping thermal runaway. In this way, a battery fire can be extinguished in just a few minutes, compared with several hours and ten times as much water without this feature
References
- Ghiji, M.; Novozhilov, V.; Moinuddin, K.; Joseph, P.; Burch, I.; Suendermann, B.; Gamble, G. A Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Suppression. Energies 2020, 13, 5117.
- The Science of Battery Safety, SafeBatt
See also: Early & Passive Thermal Runaway Detection, Propagation Resistance Testing, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)