Cargo Update
Airlines wary of lithium battery bulk business
Following a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) series of controlled tests on lithium-ion batteries, which resulted in a powerful explosion that could have caused “a catastrophic failure of the airframe” during flight, many airlines are turning away bulk shipments of the batteries.
June 1st 2015
A growing number of airlines, including Asia-Pacific carriers, are banning the carriage of bulk shipments of lithium-ion batteries in the holds of their passenger and freighter as concerns because of concern they pose a serious risk to the safety of flight. Read More » The airlines’ decisions are being made as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) moves swiftly to develop a safer way of packaging the batteries.
Last month, the organization’s hazardous cargo committee established a special working group to study packaging that could contain any fire or explosive gases ignited by the batteries. If a safe solution is not developed, it is understood a formal proposal to ban bulk battery shipments from all passenger planes could be put to ICAO’s meeting on dangerous cargo in October.
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| Several airlines are restricting bulk shipments of lithium ion batteries on their passenger and cargo aircraft. |
Airlines are becoming nervous about the risks to air safety posed by the increasing numbers of the lithium-ion batteries that are being shipped from Asian markets and especially China, by air freight.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general and CEO, Tony Tyler, warned at the World Cargo Symposium in Shanghai in March that the rise of e-commerce and the ability of small businesses to export to a global audience has created a significant new market of shippers who are not necessarily familiar with the rules on shipping dangerous goods.
“In particular, it is lithium batteries that give us cause for concern,” he said. “The safe transportation of lithium batteries by air is a global challenge, but it is important to note that China is a major source of lithium battery production. We need to work hard with all stakeholders in China to tackle this crucial issue.”
The calls for a ban are aimed only at actual shipments, not batteries that passengers take on board aircraft in their personal electronic devices or carry-on bags. In a presentation last year Airbus engineer, Paul Rohrbach, said an aircraft might be able to withstand a fire generated by a small number of lithium-ion batteries, but a fire involving lots of them could destroy the plane.
More than five billion lithium-ion batteries were produced last year and the number is forecast to reach more than eight billion annually by 2025. Cathay Pacific Airways, Qantas and Air China are among airlines that have banned or placed restrictions on bulk battery shipments aboard their passenger and freighter aircraft.
The lithium-ion battery industry has been growing at an enormous rate. The rechargeable batteries are used in hundreds of devices from mobile phones and tablets to power tools and electric cars. It’s not unusual for as many as 80,000 to be shipped in a single consignment.
But bulk shipments are not the only concern. Tyler pointed out that, disappointingly, airlines are seeing some “willful non-compliance”. “For example, there is a supplier on Alibaba (a Mainland Chinese online sales platform) that said it would re-label 300 Watt hour batteries as 100 Watt hour, and even ship them via the standard postal service. We are pressing regulators and the e-commerce sites to be more diligent in making sellers aware of regulations and, as importantly, taking action to address non-compliance”, he said.
Lithium batteries have been involved in several incidents in the past year when they have burst into flames in air cargo warehouses. There is no definitive proof, but speculation persists that a shipment of the battery type aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could have been a factor in its disappearance.
A report on MH370, released earlier this year, claimed a shipment of lithium-ion batteries had not been properly screened before it was loaded on to the fatal B777. MAS said in a statement that the Motorola Penang battery cargo had been inspected in line with procedures “defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization”. The batteries were not considered dangerous goods because they were packed in accordance with ICAO regulations.
But airline concerns about the possible risks to shipping lithium batteries have been heightened by the FAA’s test program of the last 18 months. The tests repeatedly showed a single short-circuiting battery in a large shipment can cause overheating that spreads to other batteries. Fire suppression systems have been able to put out the initial flames, but they could not contain the spread of continually increasing temperatures known as thermal runaway.
The overheated batteries emit a mixture of explosive gases, of which hydrogen is the most abundant. As the gases build up, they eventually explode and ignite an intense fire. The February FAA test resulted in a powerful explosion, despite being conducted in a pressurized chamber with an atmosphere of 5% Halon (the main gas used to suppress fires in the cargo compartments of passenger planes).
Triggered by smoke, fire suppression systems unleash Halon until the gas reaches 5% of the air in the cargo compartment. It has long been accepted by aviation authorities that this level is enough to put out most fires, including a lithium-ion battery fire.
“We now no longer believe that would be the case,” said Captain Mark Rogers, who represents the Air Line Pilots Association in the U.S. and Canada and other international pilot unions on cargo issues in ICAO proceedings.
In March, the International Coordination Council of Aerospace Industry Associations, which represents firms such as Boeing and Airbus, and pilot unions, submitted a joint working paper to ICAO that recommended a ban on bulk battery shipments on passenger planes until safer packaging is developed.
The goal of the ICAO working group is to design fire-resistant packaging which would guarantee that any overheating, fumes or fire occurring in a lithium battery shipment would be contained within the packaging.
New standards also would apply to lithium metal batteries, which are not re-chargeable and are used in items such as watches and toys. They are already banned on passenger planes globally.
Last December, IATA released a free online guide to lithium battery risk mitigation for air transport. Also published in Chinese, the “Lithium Battery Risk Mitigation Guidance for Operators” provides operators involved in transporting lithium batteries with best safety practices and clear guidelines for the bulk battery shipments. It advises airlines how to educate passengers about the risks associated with packing lithium batteries in checked baggage.
Tyler said: “Safety isn’t something that only happens at the airport or on board the aircraft. It is a shared responsibility. Above all, regulators need to step up and not assume that airlines will do the job for them. Regulators are the key to having regulations followed. The industry is doing what it can, but without oversight, surveillance and, where necessary, enforcement, compliance at the source of the shipment will be limited.”
