TRX — A Proposed Framework for Portable Lithium-Ion Thermal Runaway Suppression, Monitoring and Performance Validation

TRX (Thermal Runaway Control System) is an open technical concept proposed by Kenneth Mackenzie for the suppression, cooling, monitoring and performance validation of lithium-ion battery thermal runaway incidents. The paper was developed in response to the emerging challenge of lithium-ion battery fires and the current absence of an applicable Australian/New Zealand lithium-ion-specific extinguisher testing and certification framework. Rather than treating visible flame extinction as the sole measure of success, TRX proposes evaluating suppression through multiple factors including heat removal, cell-to-cell propagation, thermal rebound, reignition, agent consumption and post-suppression thermal stability. The paper introduces the proposed TRX V1 portable suppression architecture, TRX Smart Nozzle and thermal-rebound monitoring concept, and a proposed battery-specific performance-validation framework incorporating battery chemistry, stored energy, state of charge and thermal behaviour. TRX is published openly to encourage independent review, research, testing and further development by the fire industry, researchers, standards organisations and manufacturers. TRX is a research concept only. It has not been experimentally validated, certified or approved as operational firefighting equipment. Concept Originator and Author: Kenneth MackenzieVersion: 1.0Publication date: 24 August 2026DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22072865