The Triplast GmbH faces significant challenges in fire protection due to the enormous fire load in its plastic sorting plants. The main cause of this is lithium-ion batteries, which end up in plastic waste as misthrows. These pose a dual risk: they ignite even with minor mechanical damage and are extremely difficult to extinguish in case of fire due to chemical reactions that intensify the blaze. Triplast's overriding objectives are therefore to ensure maximum safety for people and machinery. This includes the fastest possible detection of an ignition to effectively prevent the spread of fire. This requires a fire protection system that offers extreme reliability, sensitivity, and availability in fire detection, and enables precise localization of the fire source. Furthermore, a direct connection to the fire department is essential to ensure a rapid response in an emergency.

Siemens was able to solve Triplast's complex fire protection problem thanks to its innovative approaches tailored to the specific challenges. Given the high fire load caused by lithium-ion batteries, a solution was required that offered extreme reliability, sensitivity, and availability in fire detection and enabled a rapid response. The implemented solution is based on a superordinate FC2060 fire alarm control panel, which forms the heart of the system. This is supplemented by two sprinkler sub-control panels and a sprinkler pump control panel. Particularly noteworthy is the use of over 300 neural fire detectors and nine thermal imaging cameras. These state-of-the-art technologies are crucial for the early and precise detection of hard-to-locate fire sources, such as lithium-ion batteries, even before a fire can spread. The comprehensive system is further strengthened by 56 flame detectors, 17 heat detectors, nine smoke detectors, and well over 100 manual call points with integrated extinguishing release. The scale of the project is evident from the multitude of alarming devices: 81 sirens, 87 strobe lights, 21 base sounders, 97 alarm indicators, and 228 I/O modules for control and system monitoring. An efficient aspirating smoke detection system completes the monitoring. In addition, the system is directly connected to the fire department, which is automatically alerted if a fire alarm is not acknowledged within a predefined time. This holistic solution not only ensures maximum safety but also enables a quick and targeted response in the event of a fire.