ARDAGH Glass Packaging-Europe has collaborated with Fire Camera Ltd to develop and implement an automated fire detection system at its Knottingley facility, in a bid to ‘revolutionise’ fire safety in the glass industry.
The IS Protect Plus System uses multiple cameras to detect fire and other incidents by monitoring all areas of the IS machine: the mould side, blank side, shears, feeder and conveyor.
Depending on what the system detects, AGP-Europe revealed it can perform a sequence of automated actions to prevent escalation.
Robert Fisher, plant director, AGP-Knottingley, said, “This system is the first system of its kind to use both thermal image and HD camera vision to detect a precise trigger and act accordingly. It can automatically divert the glass to the basement, activate IS machine safe mode and automatically initiate the fire suppression system depending on the severity level of the trigger.
“This is the biggest advance in health & safety risk reduction I have witnessed in my 20 years working in the industry. I have no doubt that it will contribute greatly to keeping people safe and protecting our assets for years to come.”
The system’s camera monitoring can also detect and address incidents such as late loading, jam-ups, and stray glass, parisons or bottles.
Dean Butler, business development manager at AGP-Europe, who spearheaded the project, added, “This is a major step forward for industry safety. By combining industry knowledge with specialist vision inspection and software expertise, we have delivered a game-changing solution.”
The IS Protect Plus system was recently awarded overall 2024 winner of the AGP ‘Best EHS Improvement’ award at the company’s Group Risk EHS conference.
Following successful trials at AGP-Knottingley, the system is being rolled out across other AGP-UK sites.
