Dive Brief:
- FireVu, a manufacturer of fire detection devices, has announced a new system for the recycling industry.
- The Multi-Detector uses flame and visual smoke detection technology. The equipment can determine changes in temperatures and identify and analyze smoke and heat patterns.
- The company touts the technology, thermopile, for its ability to distinguish between false alarms and a real blaze.
Dive Insight:
UK-based FireVu said the technology allows for the exclusion of dust clouds and steam. This helps to reduce unnecessary emergency calls to the fire station. The equipment is used for the waste management and recycling industries, but could be used by other markets such as petrochemicals, food processing, manufacturing, and air hangars.
The device could help to reduce the number of fires at landfills and recycling centers. An average of 8,300 fires burn at landfills across the U.S. every year.
Some sites are doing everything they can to be proactive against landfill fires. The loss of equipment can be costly, not to mention the hazard presented by potential injury to workers. At the St. Landry Parish Solid Waste Disposal District in Louisiana, landfill employees have received specialized instruction about how to extinguish fires on site.