The frequency of fires in the solid waste industry is a huge threat to both safety and financial viability. Whether it’s from lithium ion batteries, equipment malfunctions, hot loads or other sources, the devastation caused by these incidents can put a facility out of service for months, endanger lives, and lead to substantial insurance premium hikes.
A 2015 fire at the Shoreway MRF in San Mateo, California, nearly destroyed the facility, and smaller fires have also occurred. Hilary Gans will discuss the risks posed by lithium ion batteries in the solid waste stream and present a case-study of the efforts taken at the Shoreway MRF to mitigate this fire hazard.
The Ecomaine MRF in Portland, Maine, has also faced serious threats from fires, and so has installed a new system to monitor and detect hot spots 24 hours a day before they become a problem. Once detected, they can respond accordingly using water cannons, which have remote controls from inside and outside the plant. Kevin Roche will present how Ecomaine developed this custom fire detection and response system.