Preventing the Next Digital Meltdown

A lithium-ion battery explosion at South Korea’s national data center disabled hundreds of government systems. Learn how a next-generation fire suppression system can prevent thermal runaway and reduce property and operational loss in critical digital infrastructure.

Introduction: When One Battery Fire Became a National Crisis

On September 26, 2025, South Korea experienced what media outlets have called a “Digital Pearl Harbor.” A lithium-ion battery explosion at a national data center in Daejeon crippled hundreds of government systems, disrupting digital identity verification, online document signing, and even emergency services for over 24 hours.
(Source: ESS News, Sept. 30, 2025)

“As digital infrastructure becomes more centralized, physical fire protection must evolve as fast as cybersecurity.

The event highlights a sobering truth: digital resilience begins with physical protection. 

The Incident: How One Aging Battery Triggered a National Outage

Investigation results indicate that the fire originated during maintenance on an aged UPS battery module — manufactured in 2014.
A single-cell failure initiated thermal runaway, rapidly propagating through adjacent modules.

The results were devastating:

🔥 384 battery modules destroyed
⚙️ 96 systems physically damaged
🖥️ 647 government platforms taken offline
📉 Nationwide disruption of digital authentication and postal services

Firefighting was complicated by the setting. Water could cool the blaze but risked catastrophic electrical damage; CO₂ and inert gas systems lacked sufficient cooling power. The response required hours of alternating suppression, resulting in significant secondary property damage and extended service interruption.

 
The Broader Risk: Centralization Meets Fire Vulnerability

While centralizing IT and energy systems increases efficiency, it also amplifies single-point vulnerabilities. In the Daejeon case, one localized battery event cascaded across entire networks and services.

Key lessons learned:

• • Thermal runaway is fast and self-propagating. Without early containment, cell temperatures can exceed 1,000 °C. 

• • Conventional suppression is a trade-off. Water cools but destroys; gases preserve hardware but cannot stop exothermic reactions.

• • Aging battery modules magnify risk. Degraded chemistries and outdated BMS configurations increase failure likelihood.

• • Centralized design compounds impact. A single battery fault can cripple entire nations when systems share power and compute backbones.
     

Why Traditional Suppression Falls Short

Conventional protection systems, like water mist, inert gases, or fluorinated foams, struggle against lithium-ion thermal runaway:

Modern data centers require a solution that delivers fast, localized containment without destructive flooding, and one that aligns with global environmental mandates.

 
Our Solution: Localized Foam Barrier with PFAS-Free LBF Agent

Our proprietary system was engineered specifically for battery-dense environments, such as data centers, AIDC, UPS rooms, and battery energy storage facilities.

🔹 1. Targeted Containment of Thermal Runaway.

Unlike conventional foams or water-based systems, our LBF agent deploys directly around the affected cells or modules, forming a stabilizing, thermally active barrier. The embedded sprinklers deliver LBF agent rapidly absorb heat and neutralize reactive intermediates, stopping thermal runaway at its source. The result: zero propagation and significantly reduced risk of re-ignition.

🔹 2. PFAS-Free, Sustainable Chemistry.

Our agent achieves high suppression performance without any PFAS compounds, ensuring compliance with and exceeding global sustainability standards, including EU REACH, U.S. EPA, and OECD phase-out frameworks.
It represents a clean-chemistry breakthrough, combining environmental responsibility with unmatched thermal control.

🔹 3. Minimal Water, Maximum Protection.

The system’s localized deployment strategy uses a fraction of the water required by traditional suppression systems, minimizing risks of electrical shorting, corrosion, and post-incident contamination.
This approach ensures maximum protection with minimal collateral damage, making it ideal for sensitive, high-value assets.

🔹 4. Seamless Integration for Critical Facilities.

Engineered for rack-level and containerized installations, our system integrates easily into existing battery management and detection systems.
When early-stage temperature or voltage anomalies are detected, the agent activates autonomously, isolating the affected cell group within seconds, preventing escalation and maintaining operational continuity.

🌍 A Smarter, Safer Path Forward
By combining rapid cooling, proven containment, and PFAS-free chemistry, our LBF agent and LBF system redefine how the industry approaches lithium-ion battery fire safety.
It’s not just a suppression product; it’s a proactive thermal management solution for the next generation of clean, safe energy storage systems.

A Controlled Response Beats a Catastrophic Reaction

If a system like ours had been installed at the Daejeon data center, the initial cell failure could have been contained before propagation, eliminating the need to flood the facility and preventing widespread service loss.

Instead of a nationwide outage, the incident might have remained a contained technical anomaly with rapid recovery and limited damage.

Intelligent containment transforms a catastrophic fire into a manageable maintenance event.

Building True Digital Resilience

The Daejeon event is not an exception. It’s a warning.
As data centers, utilities, and government agencies deploy larger lithium-ion battery storage systems, thermal management and fire suppression must evolve alongside.

Our PFAS-Free LBF System Provides:

• Localized fire suppression system for lithium-ion battery fires
  
• Thermal runaway propagation prevention (TRPP)
  
• Protection of high-value electronics and structures
  
• Environmentally compliant, sustainable formulation
• Faster recovery and reduced downtime

Conclusion: Designing Infrastructure That Can Survive Its Own Energy

Cyber resilience and digital redundancy are no longer enough. Physical resilience, especially in energy storage and data environments, is now a defining factor of operational continuity.

Let’s build infrastructures that can survive their own energy.

👉 Contact our technical team to learn how our PFAS-free LBF fire extinguishing solution can be integrated into your facility’s fire protection and energy resilience plan.