Reference Plants

Hagenholz Waste Incineration Plant
The waste incineration plant operated by Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich in Switzerland is specialized in recycling household waste and using it to generate heat and electricity. It has been in operation since 1969 and has been undergoing an extensive renovation since 2003. A subproject of the renovation focused on expanding the waste bunker, where the waste is stored until being recycled, and modernizing the fire protection equipment in the waste bunker.

One of the requirements of the project was to visualize, operate, control and monitor all of the fire protection systems on one control system. Moreover, the aim was also to cut costs by implementing a coordinated fire protection system, since the earlier fires are detected, the less damage they cause. In addition, the fire department has to be called out less often. Within the scope of this project, m-u-t retrofitted the plant with a new ARTUS LWIR early fire detection system. At 100m long, 18m wide and 32m tall, the enlarged bunker is as big as a 10-story apartment house. Four standalone ARTUS thermal imaging camera systems were networked to monitor the large and elongated area. All relevant data and alarms converge in an individually configurable information monitor and in the central control room on its large-scale video wall.
 
Hamburg Waste Recycling Collection Center
Otto Dörner, a waste disposal company operating throughout Germany, runs a recycling collection center for construction and industrial waste in the city of Hamburg. To be able to recycle the collected waste, the recyclable materials have to be properly sorted and separated. In the first step, the collected waste is crushed and shredded. Flying sparks and hot fragments and splinters are generated during this process, especially when metal is crushed. This poses the risk of the source of the fire spreading, i.e. that the hot objects will be carried into the further processing and sorting process.

An ARTUS LWIR thermography system from m-u-t monitors the conveyor belt and activates a water cooling mechanism if the temperature increases slightly for objects within the image. If the temperature becomes too high, the conveyor belt is stopped in order to allow the materials to cool down, thereby preventing the risk of a hot spot spreading. Early and multilevel fire protection and prevention measures ensure extremely minimal impact on the ongoing operation of the plant.

This system greatly reduces the danger to humans and the environment, while also protecting the sorting facility from fire as well. The installation of the ARTUS camera is therefore both an ecofriendly and economically valuable and cost-effective investment.