Sugar Refineries
The violent explosion at a sugar refinery in Savannah, GA highlighted the hazardous nature of fine explosive dusts present during production operations. A layer of dust only 1/32” thick, if airborne, can provide the fuel for an ignition source. Unlike petrochemical facilities which can reactively monitor for explosive gas fuel, a dust type explosive environment must monitor for ignition sources.
Ex|CAM AF Pro Series, certified explosionproof infrared camera systems are designed to autonomously monitor for ignition sources located within an explosive area. Realtime thermal images are linked to plant CCTV system for visual display and recording with temperature alarms configured to automatically warn of potential ignition sources.
Ex|CAM AF Pro series infrared cameras can easily detect increases in temperature as part of a programmed monitoring route which is followed by the camera system 24/7/365. When a hotspot is detected the camera system can be configured to halt its routine at the ignition source and alarm for operations personnel to take further action.
Temperatures high enough to cause dust ignition may not only be the result of immenent equipment failures, such as misaligned bearings, but also from standard plant operation. Correctly installed, a single Ex|CAM AF Pro series can monitor for immenent equipment failure and also friction heat generated from plant operations such as sugar pouring through a chute. This standard plant process can create enough heat via friction to cause an explosion.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, a non-regulatory federeal agency, identified 281 combustable dust instances between 1980 and 2005, with approximately ¼ of the explosions occuring in the food industrym including several sugar plants. Installing Ex|CAM Pro Series explosionproof thermal cameras can prevent the source of ignition occuring.
For more information on Ex|CAM AF Series, configured for Autoigntion Temperature Detection and T-Class Inspections please contact your local representative or contact Hawk IR International Worldwide Thermography Headquarters at contact@hawk-ir.com or call 0044 (0) 1642 497000.