Infrared detection prevents fire at recycling plant

A lithium-ion battery was recently shredded at a dry mixed recycling (DMR) plant, igniting flammable materials and causing a series of small smoldering fires.

However, an infrared transit heat sensor installed by United Kingdom-based fire risk prevention specialist Blazequel detected the spark and activated a water deluge system to extinguish the fires.

Blazequel says it had recommended the infrared sensor from industrial fire protection manufacturer Patol to be installed on the dosing bunker outfeed, where an incline conveyor carries materials away from the bunker, for additional detection.

“This decision to provide what is effectively ember detection was the difference between this being a minor incident that was automatically dealt with effectively and what could easily have turned into a major fire,” says Keith Picton, Blazequel’s marketing manager. “If the infrared heat detectors had not been in place, the battery would have passed into the ballistic separator and then subsequent separators with the potential to result in a serious fire in one of the final storage bunkers when it came into contact with the material stockpile.”

Patol project engineer Steve Wilder says, “Waste management process lines are particularly high risk when it comes to fire. Over a period of three years, an average of more than 300 fires a year were recorded in U.K. waste and recycling plants, and that is a conservative estimate as many smaller incidents go unreported.”

“As these plants are dirty and dusty environments, our infrared transit heat sensors feature air purging from either a compressor or a blower,” Wilder adds. “This maintains a positive air pressure across the sensor window to prevent dust settling and impairing performance.”