Battery fire safety ventilation for fully electrical vessel

Research Project, 2022 – 2023

The objective of this project is to take another step forward towards fully electric ships for international voyages. In a former project Lätta Elfartyg, an innovative high-level design of the electrical and energy storage system of a fully electric Ro-Pax ship was developed. Based on risk analyses of the design, a battery fire safety concept was also established, intended as a starting point for the development of harmonized international regulations. The risk analyses also identified critical open questions relating to ventilation and explosion protection. Two critical issues are therefore proposed to be studied further in this project:
1. Detailed study of the ventilation concept – how different specific ventilation system solutions relate to the battery fire safety concept.
2. Post-fire strategies – how a battery space containing potentially flammable gases should be purged without using air, and a strategy for removal of damaged batteries from the bottom of the ship, with consideration to stranded energy.