Electronic Cigarette Safety

The use of electronic cigarettes has increased in recent years as have the number of electronic
cigarette manufacturers and suppliers who now provide many different models for sale.
Along with this general proliferation of electronic cigarettes, there has also been an increase
in the number of safety critical failures of the devices including failures which result in fire.
In the United Kingdom alone, there have been several domestic fires, at least one of these has
led to a fatality, which have been attributed to electronic cigarette failure.



At ERA Technology, we regularly perform safety assessment and testing of electronic
cigarettes for reputable suppliers and manufacturers who are aware of the potential hazards
associated with the technology. We also conduct failure analysis investigations on electronic
cigarette models which have failed in use.
The majority of electronic cigarettes are based on the same principle: a rechargeable battery
is used to heat and vaporise a nicotine containing liquid. This is normally achieved by
discharging a lithium ion battery through a heater coil which is immersed in, or in close
proximity to, a reservoir of propylene glycol containing some dissolved nicotine. The
electrical discharge is prompted by a pressure change caused by the user smoking the
device. Thus, there are several requirements from the electronic cigarette design:
A pressure sensor is needed to detect when the device is being smoked
Relatively high temperatures need to be generated in a small area
The lithium ion battery discharge needs to be correctly controlled
The lithium ion battery charge cycle needs to be correctly controlled.
At ERA Technology, we have found that the aspects of electronic cigarette design which
pose the greatest safety hazard are the lithium ion battery charge and discharge control
mechanisms. This is because if lithium ion batteries are not charged and discharged correctly,
there is a risk of the batteries undergoing a thermal runaway process which can lead to
explosive failure and fire.
A typical lithium ion battery as used in an electronic cigarette has a nominal voltage of 3.7V
and it should be charged at a maximum voltage of around 4.2V. Commonly, the battery
would be expected to remain safe for charging voltages of up to 4.6V, however, when a
battery is exposed to a charging voltage of 5V, a thermal runaway failure leading to explosion
and fire can occur. Any explosive hazard is often compounded by the battery being housed in
a steel tube that forms the main body of electronic cigarettes which are designed to look like
traditional cigarettes, effectively, creating a small pipe bomb.
The battery charge and discharge cycle is often controlled by a single chip with no secondary
safety feature (e.g. a fuse) in the event that the control chip fails. This chip should be
expected to regulate the charging voltage (typically <4.2V) and current to the battery and to
stop charging once the charging current has fallen below a given residual level. It should also
regulate the discharge current to the heater, limit the discharge time of a single drag on the
cigarette and prevent further discharge once the battery voltage falls below a certain level
(typically 3V). The control chips used in electronic cigarettes can be purchased for less than
$1 and it is inevitable that there will be certain percentage of these chips which will fail when
in use.
Electronic cigarettes are often (probably the majority) charged from a USB connector which
delivers 5V to the device. Therefore, in the event of a control chip failure, there is a likely
failure mode where the battery is supplied directly with 5V leading to thermal runaway and
the risk of a fire. Recent press reports on electronic cigarette related fires have highlighted the
wrong charger being used with the devices as the root cause of the failure. However, in our
experience at ERA, any USB charger which can supply 5V and 0.5A to an electronic
cigarette is capable of initiating thermal runaway in the battery leading to a fire hazard. It is
more likely that the recent UK house fires attributed to electronic cigarette failure are related
to failure in the control circuitry as opposed to the wrong USB charger being used.
Even when used correctly, a poorly manufactured battery can fail dangerously, for example,
as in the relatively recent spate of laptop fires which affected several major manufacturers
and required a significant product recall. As such, it is imperative that the batteries chosen for
the electronic cigarette are produced by reputable manufacturers in compliance with
appropriate standards such as IEC 61960 and IEC 62133 and that they have been suitably
type tested preferably by an independent notified laboratory. ERA technology can
independently assess the manufacturers specifications, confirm that the appropriate tests
have been performed on the electronic cigarette battery and verify the battery performance by
repeating pertinent tests on a selection of devices.

For further information, please contact info@era.co.uk
- See more at: http://www.era.co.uk/electronic-cigarette-safety/#sthash.Yb8AtYZF.dpuf