Heist-op-den-Berg (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The new recycling park in Heist-op-den-Berg in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, will receive an artificial intelligence fire detector. The system used by Luco Security Company works with smart cameras and heat detection. In this manner, the detector can easily determine where the fire is and if there is a fire or not. The older systems still produce false alarms in too many capacities.
The new recycling park in Heist-op-den-Berg will be equipped with a fire detector with artificial intelligence. The Luco security company system works with smart cameras and heat detection. In this manner, the detector is able to get to the location of the fire fast and determine if there is even a fire. The classic systems still deliver too many false alarms, as reported by VRT.
The AI fire detector is much faster than other systems.
“The artificial intelligence allows the detector to quickly analyze the situation and determine whether there is really a fire. In the event of a dust cloud or reflection of the sun, the alarm will not go off,”
says Raf Jansen, CEO of Luco.
“The images that the detector makes are sent to the customer and the control room. In the event of a fire, the fire brigade will also be called and will receive all the necessary information so that they can assess the situation before they leave.”
The new system makes Mario Frederickx of JMC Containers behind the recycling park happy.
“We have already tried other systems that detect the heat source, but not the fire. Waste is very flammable so it is nice to have extra fast protection, especially on hot days.”
What were the previous fire detection challenges in recycling facilities like Heist-op-den-Berg?
Recycling parks like the one in Heist-op-den-Berg had immense struggles with traditional systems of fire detection before the advent of AI-enabled fire detectors. A classical form of detectors were based on smoke or heat-sensitive devices which would cause false alarms too often due to non-threatening sources such as dust or steam. This resulted in unnecessary interferences and delayed responses regarding real fire cases.
In waste and recycling premises, the risk of fire is increased because there are combustible materials and hazardous wastes such as lithium batteries. Conventional systems found it hard to yield early and accurate detection, which is essential in preventing widespread damage.
The recent developments have introduced thermal fire detection systems that use thermometric cameras to monitor continuous temperature changes, thus, allowing for detecting heat build-ups that presage fire earlier.
These systems, which have been improved with the use of artificial intelligence, are capable of distinguishing the real alarms from the false ones based on the heat patterns and the smoke movements. This type of technology was not commonly implemented in the region and thus left facilities exposed to fire risks and poor alarm response.
