As one of the most powerful forces on earth, there is little more dangerous than an uncontrolled fire – and fires in industrial or hazardous areas spread rapidly, burning at extremely high intensity, and often resulting in complete destruction of assets, structures and lives.

This has been highlighted in recent catastrophic fires, such as the Netherton Bakery Plant Fire in Staffordshire, the Ocado Warehouse fire in Hampshire, and the Houston Petrochemical Storage Facility fire – all of which resulted in huge financial loss.

Underpinning all global business, the industrial sector encompasses a large range of environments, including challenging, hazardous and access restricted areas, where typical forms of fire detection are not practical or don’t perform effectively.

Subject to pollution, dirt, dust, debris, and dangerous chemicals or toxins, applications include:

• Floating roof storage tanks

• Conveyor belts

• Distilleries

• Bakeries/kitchens

• Control panels/electrical cabinets

• Heavy equipment/engine compartments

• Waste recycling

Industrial applications can have complex requirements due to the nature of the environment. Factors such as noise, dust, light, high humidity and operating temperature requirements can exclude many types of fire detection products, due to the potential to false alarm or fail prematurely. Furthermore, with various legal frameworks governing hazardous area equipment, including ATEX Directive (EU), CFR (US), IECEx (Worldwide), DSEAR (UK), and BS EN 60079, it can be difficult to find fire safety equipment that is suitable and high-functioning.

Considering the most efficient and effective ways to detect the threat of fire in industrial and hazardous environments, linear heat detection not only meets the BS5839 regulatory compliance and standards, it is designed to provide the earliest form of detection, prevent false alarms, and is entirely unaffected by airflow, dangerous chemicals or toxins.