Temperature monitoring of chemicals - how to prevent overheating of flammable materials during storage? Case study

How can flammable chemicals be stored safely? Customer challenge

Our customer is a chemical company that produces speciality chemicals for various industries. Chemicals stored in warehouses tend to heat up, which can cause them to overheat and even catch fire. In extreme cases, there is also a risk of an explosive atmosphere forming, which is why the entire warehouse must meet the strict requirements for potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX). This situation poses a real threat to people, equipment and the entire production plant - any failure related to overheating of chemical materials could lead to serious production and financial consequences.

The customer was looking for a system that would guarantee reliable, 24-hour temperature monitoring of stored materials. They needed an intelligent solution that would instantly inform the staff of any safety-threatening situation, enabling a quick response even before a serious problem arises. Another key issue was access to up-to-date data from any location, so that employees could remotely track the status of the warehouse and react immediately, even outside of working hours. This allowed the company to operate with peace of mind, confident that it was meeting legal requirements for the safe storage of hazardous substances in accordance with ATEX standards.

How can the risk of chemicals spontaneously combusting be avoided with wireless monitoring? Our solution

We have implemented a comprehensive temperature monitoring system for our customer, based on JUMO Wtrans T wireless temperature sensors. The sensors have been placed in the areas where the risk of the material spontaneously heating up is highest. Thanks to wireless transmission, temperature readings are constantly sent in real time to a central control system based on JUMO variTRON 500 PLCs. The controllers analyse the data on an ongoing basis, and if they detect that the set temperature thresholds have been exceeded, they immediately activate the defined alarm procedures.

Alarms are generated in the form of automatic SMS alerts sent directly to maintenance services and persons responsible for the safety of production processes. In addition, the entire process is visualised in the JUMO Cloud SCADA system, which displays current temperature values and the status of individual measuring points on clear graphic screens. This allows operators to access detailed information at any time and from any location and to react quickly to changing chemical storage conditions.

How can the efficiency of security checks in warehouses be increased with a temperature monitoring system? Customer benefits

Thanks to the wireless automatic temperature monitoring system, the customer gained precise control over the storage conditions of chemical materials. All substances are monitored on an ongoing basis, which virtually eliminates the risk of them overheating spontaneously.

The main benefits for the customer after the implementation of the solution are, above all:

• Full automation of temperature control: The system itself monitors the set temperature thresholds, immediately warning of their exceeding via SMS alerts and online notifications. Thanks to this, employees only react when something is actually happening.
  
• Compliance with safety and quality regulations: Automatic recording of temperature data allows you to quickly and easily meet all legal requirements for the storage of chemicals, including the generation of reports.
  
• Access to data in real time – JUMO Cloud allows remote monitoring of the process from anywhere and at any time, which allows for immediate reaction to any deviation and quick decision-making.
  
• The customer particularly appreciated the intuitive operation of the SCADA system and the possibility of remote monitoring of the entire process. Data is available online from anywhere, and the quality department can easily generate detailed reports. Employees can now focus on important tasks instead of constantly worrying about the safety of stored chemicals.