analysis of the combustion fumes and gases released during the burning of some c-si pv modules

ANALYSIS OF THE COMBUSTION FUMES AND GASES RELEASED DURING THE BURNING OF

SOME C-SI PV MODULES

Claudio Liciotti1, Piergiacomo Cancelliere 2, Michele Cardinali1, Vincenzo Puccia3,

1 Brandoni Solare S.p.A.,

2 Italian National Fire Services, Active Fire Protection Department

3 Italian National Fire Services, Padova Fire Services

29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference

RAI Congress & Exhibition Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

September 23rd , 2014

Outline

• About Us• Introduction and motivation• Aim of the work• Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled

to FTIR- Samples- Setup- Results

• Analysis of pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR- Samples- Setup- Results

• Conclusion• Acknowledgement

About Us

• Brandoni Solare S.p.A. is an Italian PV moduleproducer.

• Founded in 2007.• Current capacity 55MW/yr.• Focuses on PV modules design and production

(customized solutions).• R&D focus is on BIPV and PV module reliability.

Introduction and motivation

• Mechanical resistance and stability• Safety in case of fire• Hygiene, health and the environment• Safety in use• Protection against noise• Energy economy and heat retention

Residential Segment BIPV

Special requirements

DRAFT prEN 50583

Introduction and motivation

• Factors required for fire hazard assessment [1]

• PV modules are installed on the roof (outside thebuilding)

• During a PV system burning, the fire exposesfirefighters and other rescue personnel not only tothermal and to electrocution hazards, but also to thefumes.

[1] Anna A. Stec and T. Richard Hull, “Assessment of the fire toxicity of building insulation materials”, Energy and Buildings, 43 (2-3), pp. 498-506 (2011).

Fire Safety

Hazard

Structuralintegrity

Fire growrate

Firetoxicity Smoke

Risk

Materialignitability

IgnitionSources

Aim of the work

• The c-Si PV modules contain large amount of plasticmaterials that could also produce dangerous combustionproducts.

• Modules with different kind of raw materials wereanalyzed in:

- Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR; the aimof this test is analyze the fumes and gasesreleased during the combustion of c-Si PVmodules.- TGA coupled to FTIR to analyze the fumesand gases released during the pyrolysis of c-SiPV modules.

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Samples• Samples for Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR

- Sample 1: EVA- Sample 2: TPO- Sample 3: EVA + PET/PET/Primer backsheet- Sample 4: EVA + PVF/PET/PVF backsheet- Sample 5: EVA +PA/PET/PA backsheet

• Samples dimensions 100 mm x 100 mm

• The plastic materials are laminated on a 4 mm glass

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Setup

• Cone Calorimeter NoselabASTM E 1354/ ISO 5660.

• System well ventilated• Specimen combustion• Radiator pre-set 50 kW/m2

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Setup

• The fumes are extracted from exhaust duct extraction bya probe

• The combustion fumes were analysed with FTIR (PerkinElmer Spectrum One).

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results• Sample 1 (EVA) – FTIR analysis

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results• Sample 2 (TPO) – FTIR analysis

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results• Sample 3 (EVA + PET/PET/Primer) – FTIR analysis

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results• Sample 4 (EVA + PVF/PET/PVF ) – FTIR analysis

Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results• Sample 5 (EVA +PA/PET/PA) – FTIR analysis

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Samples

• Samples for TGA coupled to FTIR- Sample 1: EVA- Sample 2: TPO- Sample 3: EVA + PET/PET/Primer backsheet- Sample 6: TPO+ PET/PET/Primer backsheet

• The sample was cut into small pieces, transferred into analumina crucible (Al2O3 - 85 μL) and placed into the TGA.

• Sample holder: standard sample carrier.

• Sample mass: 4-6 mg.

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Setup

• TGA NETZSCH TG 209 F1 Libra® simultaneously coupledto the Agilent 7890A Gas chromatograph and theAgilent 5975 MSD („mass selective detector“) andcoupled to the BRUKER Optics FTIR TENSOR.

• Measure: Temperature-dependent mass change (TG),rate of mass change (DTG) and the Gram Schmidt, 3Dplot of all detected IR spectra.

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• Temperature-dependent mass change (TG), rate of masschange (DTG) and the Gram Schmidt curve of Sample 3(EVA + PET/PET/Primer)

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• Temperature-dependent mass change (TG), rate of masschange (DTG) and the Gram Schmidt curve of Sample 6(TPO+ PET/PET/Primer)

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• 3D plot of all detected IR spectra of Sample 1 (EVA)and Sample 3 (EVA + PET/PET/Primer) heated to1000 °C

Sample 1 Sample 3

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• 3D plot of all detected IR spectra of Sample 2 (TPO)and Sample 6 (TPO+ PET/PET/Primer) heated to1000 °C

Sample 2 Sample 6

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• Spectra comparison: Sample 1 - EVA (orange) andSample 3 - EVA + PET/PET/Primer (light blue) at370°C compared with the database spectrum of aceticacid (blue).

Sample 1

Sample 3

acetic acid

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• Spectra comparison: Sample 1 - EVA (green) at 170 °Ccompared with the database spectrum of dimethyl butane(blue).

Sample 1

dimethyl butane

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• Spectra comparison: Sample 1 - EVA (light green)Sample 2 - TPO (blue) and Sample 3 - EVA +PET/PET/Primer (black) at 480 °C compared with thedatabase spectrum of C25H52 (pink).

Sample 2 Sample 1 Sample 3

C25H52

Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR - Results

• Spectra comparison: Sample 3 - EVA +PET/PET/Primer (red) and Sample 6 – TPO +PET/PET/Primer (orange) at 820 °C compared with thedatabase spectrum of carbon dioxide (blue).

Sample 6

Sample 3

CO2

Conclusion

• The use of FTIR applied to the cone calorimeter allow toidentify only the outlet gasses produced by thecombustion as carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide(C02).

• FTIR applied to the cone calorimeter is not usefully tomake an analytical analysis of the materialsdecomposition

• The coupling of FTIR with TGA give a wide and usefulinformation about the degradation of the material duringthe pyrolysis. With this method is possible to identify thegasses produced at different temperature during thepyrolysis process.

Conclusion

• The polymers included in the PV modules have directeffect on combustion products toxicity.

• In case of an outbreak of a fire in a PV system, theVolatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and carbon oxides(CO) released require, obviously, the breathingapparatus to be used by the rescue team memberswhile they are doing firefighting and rescue operations.

Acknowledgement

• The authors wish to thank Dr. Eng. Giovanni Longobardofor his help in setting up the PV module specimens andthe reaction to fire test rig.

• The authors wish also to thank the ThermoanalyticalSection of the NETZSCH Applications Laboratory for theirsupport in the test analysis.

Thank you for your attention

Brandoni Solare S.p.a.

Via O.Pigini, 860022 Castelfidardo (AN)

ITALY

@mail: c.liciotti@brandonisolare.com

Web Site: www.brandonisolare.com