Better Pork - December 2006

Eye On Europe

New German fogging/fire control system helps cut insurance premium

Integrated with smoke detectors, the system provides a much faster response to smoke particles in the air than do conventional systems

by NORMAN DUNN

Integrating high-pressure fogging systems in the hog barn with smoke detectors to provide an automatic fire extinguishing system are saving a few German farmers up to 30 per cent in fire insurance premiums this year.

The pioneering idea of applying fixed fogging pipelines and sprinklers as fire extinguishers comes from Schulz Systemtechnik, a feeding and ventilation technology specialist from Visbeck in northern Germany.

“We got the idea from Norway, where early warning systems for fire in livestock buildings are mandatory,” explains Michael Jungeblut from Schulz. “We were already successfully marketing our high-pressure (20–50 bar) fogging system for swine barns for air moisture control and dust binding. Our nozzles give an extremely fine jet and we found that the action was also very effective in dousing smouldering fires - without the water damage that can occur with direct hosing.”

The firm integrated smoke detectors with the fogging system to form its new “Safe-n-Cool” system. The Cool-n-Safe detectors are specially developed to react earlier than conventional warning systems, which are activated mainly by increasing temperature near the sensors, according to Schulz Systemtechnik.

The detectors continuously suck air from various areas of the barn into a computer-controlled filtering and analyzing system, which reacts to smoke particles in the air, explains Jungeblut. “A barn fire usually smoulders for up to several hours before flames actually start and conventional alarms are activated. But this system reacts within 60 seconds of the first smoke being produced. The sprinkler jets are activated and alarms sounded. A message can be automatically sent straight to the farmer via mobile phone if required.”

The developers say that this quick reaction stops suffocation of animals by smoke and avoids excessive fire damage- as well as offering farmers possible reductions in insurance premiums.

Integrating its pig barn fogging system with sophisticated smoke detectors has given Schulz Systemtechnik an efficient fire control set-up, which has earned first customers insurance premium reductions of up to 30 per cent.

The new tipp-feeder system allows growers much more time to feed compared with conventional automatic feeders, because it simulates the “one animal per feeding space” situation of the farrowing pen. BP