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Importance of fire-safe conveyers emphasised

FIRE-DETECTION ESSENTIAL ASP Fire designs, installs and maintains a range of fire-detection and -suppression equipment to suit customer needs

PERVASIVE THREAT Conveyor belt fires threaten the lives and can cause excessive revenue loss

27th May 2016

By: Kimberley Smuts

Creamer Media Reporter

  

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Fire is a pervasive threat to conveyor belt systems at mines and can cause substantial damage to the conveyed material, electromechanical components of the conveyor system and the belt if the necessary fire-protection systems are not in place.

This can result in costly damage and downtime, reducing a mining operation’s productivity, stresses fire risk management and support provider ASP Fire.

“Conveyor belt fires threaten the lives of anyone on site and can cause the collapse of a conveyor’s structural elements, which will result in excessive revenue loss, if it is a critical conveyor section, which can cause lengthy delays when not operational, or if it has to be replaced. Bearing this in mind, a high-quality conveyor belt fire protection system must revolve around the preservation of such a system,” states ASP Fire CEO Michael van Niekerk.

Early detection and fast-acting fire prevention solutions that also provide cooling for the affected structure are key to ensure the quick and successful extinguishing of any fire. Every conveyor belt system’s design is unique and each system must be assessed to adequately and accurately determine and address its fire risks.

ASP Fire designs, installs and maintains a range of fire-detection and -suppression equipment to suit customer needs. “We provide a holistic, proactive and preventive fire solution, based on integrated fire risk assessment, training and consulting. Our installation and maintenance of fire-detection and -suppression systems are fire protection industry leading,” adds Van Niekerk.

Risk Scenarios

He highlights four primary risk scenarios when dealing with bulk materials handling.

The first scenario involves a fire originating from a conveyor’s drive equipment, owing to an electrical fault, a failure on the motor or the ignition of hydraulic fluid involved in the tensioning or drive process. An electrical fire could spread to the conveyer belt, which can ignite, or the product it transports could also catch fire. This is extremely dangerous if the conveyer is transporting combustible products, such as coal or woodchips, Van Niekerk emphasises.

A conveyor system can also be set alight by an external source. For example, a veld fire or a fire in a neighbouring building could spread towards a conveyer belt, Van Niekerk warns, adding that external fires need to be detected in advance and managed to avoid putting conveyers at risk.

The third scenario can unfold when an idler pulley bearing fails and overheats and the grease in, or the conveyor belt touching, these bearings catches fire. Van Niekerk points out that, although conveyer belts are generally made of a fire- resistant material, they are not necessarily fireproof. Being fire resistant enables the belts to withstand heat, typically 80 ⁰C to 150 ⁰C, depending on the class of conveyor belt used, or exposure to a naked flame for a certain amount of time without catching fire.

However, pyrolysis – a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen – could occur, and the rubber belt will start to smoulder, with similar possible consequences for the conveyor belt and the product it is carrying igniting. This scenario is especially dangerous when conveying coal as coal fines (dust) are easily dispersed, coating structures close to the pulleys. Therefore, if a pulley fire should start, the fines around the conveyer can also ignite.

The final scenario involves a product such as coal spontaneously igniting in a stockpile for example, resulting in a burning ember possibly being transported to a storage silo or second stockpile – it could cause a fire or explosion on the conveyor or in that storage area.

Solutions

To ensure early detection of a conveyor belt fire, Van Niekerk suggests the installation of Technoswitch fire-detection technologies and fire-control and -extinguishing panels that are specifically suited to protecting mining and the bulk materials handling environment.

These solutions include ember detectors that are designed to identify a smouldering ember on a moving conveyor belt before it develops into a flaming fire, a linear heat- detection cable for long distances that sets off an alarm if the tempera- ture rises above the alarm threshold and a fibre-optic detection cable for long distances or tunnels, where very sensitive or high-risk zones need to be identified. Van Niekerk highlights the need for triple infrared flame detectors that use three different infrared light wavelengths to rapidly detect an open flame in the conveyor system without being prone to false alarms.

To complete the fire-protection system, he recommends fire-suppression technologies and solutions provider I-CAT Fire Solutions’ water- and foam-mist fire-suppression systems, which can effectively suppress a conveyor fire in seconds before it becomes a problem. This range can extinguish all types of fires, says Van Niekerk, including rubber- and plastic-related fires, oil-based fires, diesel and petrol fires, as well as electrical fires of up to 245 kV.

He notes that ASP Fire solutions and services are used by South Africa-based diversified resources group Exxaro, petrochemicals group Sasol’s mining subsidiary, Sasol Mining, and multinational diversified mining company Anglo American’s coal business, Anglo American Thermal Coal, among others.

ASP Fire not only focuses on preventing conveyer fires but also on numerous other fire risks at mines, from substation and vehicle-related fires to fuel-storage areas, server rooms and transformer fires, Van Niekerk concludes.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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