Methodology in early detection of conveyor belt fire in coal transportation

Thermal power units are a major source of power generation in India. Belt conveyor is the leading transportation system in a thermal power plant. Belt conveyor fire in a thermal power plant breaks the chain of the transportation system, stops the feeding to the boiler, and often leads to closure of the plant, and thereby impacts the production for several months incurring huge losses. The main aim of this study is to design a model for early detection of belt conveyor fire and its automatic fire suppression system. The proposed model incorporates safety devices and sensors which shall be activated whenever it is necessary. Based on coal characteristics, threshold limit values (TLV) of sensors are defined. Proximate analysis, critical oxidation temperature, fire ladder, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies were conducted to characterize the five coal samples used in this study collected from Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL), Mansa, Punjab, India. For the coal samples used in this study (with an average moisture content of 7.59 wt %), the average critical oxidation temperature was observed to be 81.3 ⁰C. Further, the fire ladder study indicates that gas sensors like CO and H2 should be installed in the belt conveyor route. Based on laboratory and field investigations an automated model for early detection of fire was proposed which incorporates safety devices, temperature, and gas sensors, and fire suppression mechanisms