Battery charging room

[clio222]

Any advice please:

Due to the risk of flammable gases being produced during the charging of batteries within a designated areas am I correct in assuming that this would then come under DSEAR regs 2002 and as such appropriate signage to support this ie yellow triangle leading to the risk area or it sufficient to apply a sign stating battery room.

Also I have came across information from HSE that during charging process to leave doors open to eliminate the build up of gases surely the area should be completely sealed with doors fully closed to avoid gases traveling throughout the surrounding area`s.

Lastly to anyones knowledge is permisable to leave the charging apparatus overnight in premises that are unattended I have been informed that this is common practise and that the apparatus is designed to be operating for long period.

Any gudiance would be greatly appreciated.

[kurnal]

Theres lots of issues here.
First thing is that many modern batteries nowadays are sealed and do not normally give off explosive gases during charging so if this is the case theres no problem. Check with the manufacturers.

Secondly where explosive gases are given off theres a formula to work out the volume of gases given off based on number of cells, capacity and charge rate. Theres a BS for this- cant remember the number off the top of my head though.  This information is applied to the properties of the gas given off and its explosive range, and  will give you an indication of whether you need external ventilation- a certain number of air changes per hour are assumed by natural leakage.

If explosive gases are not given off during normal operations or the volume is so low as to be a fraction of  the lower explosive limit  then it will be outside the DSEAR Regs. You just need to consider immediate area of charging and safe use of the charges and www.HSE.gov.uk do a handout on this.

If you have explosive gases given off then leaving doors open is not a suitable risk control measure. if ventilation is needed there is a hierarchy approach to be applied- local ventilation is always better than general area ventilation.

This sort of thing is run of the mill to a M and E engineer  and that may be where the best advice may be found.

[clio222]

The battery charging room has a forced ventilation system installed as a control measure for the release of flammable gases produced during charging from unsealed batteries not sure of the figures ( LEL ) to acertain if it comes under DSEAR

[kurnal]

Sorry clio should have picked that up from your original posting.

The forced ventilation system will have been designed as a system and will probably be rendered ineffective if you leave doors open, the HSE advice is much to simplistic for your situation. A DSEAR assessment must surely have been carried out in the past to justify the installation of the ventilation?

You are right about signage and controls and permit to work  will be needed to control activites if it is a potentially hazardous area.  Battery charging area signs are too general- the signs should identify the hazards and controls required- eg yellow graphic hazard of corrosive liguids, red no unauthorised persons, green eyewash station, blue eye protection must be worn etc.
 
There is no reason why the system should not be left running overnight if it has been properly designed.

The procedure is that the DSEAR assessment will cover the process risk of charging the batteries, and all necessary measures to avoid fire or explosion arising from the process. The outcome of the DSEAR assessment will allow fire risk assessment of high, normal or low risk as appropriate and the necessary fire related issuies-  rate of growth, enclosure, travel distances, alarm and detection, etc will  follow from this.

[clio222]

Thanks Kurnal