Fire Prevention in Hog Fuel

Hog fuel is a made up of scrap wood, shavings, sawdust, bark, needles and contaminants such as rocks, dirt, ice and other materials that lower BTU content. It is used as fuel in modern energy plants where it supplements fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.  

In storage, piles of hog fuels can spontaneously combust if stored in warm environments for extended periods of time. Continuous temperature monitoring is essential to prevent incidents of spontaneous combustion. Thermal imaging cameras from Process Sensors Corporation are employed as an “active” safety system to alert operators if heat production from oxidation is higher than heat dissipation.

Value and Quality 

Hog fuel is purchased by weight; however, the moisture content of hog fuel reduces its value.  At 65% moisture, hog fuel is about 60% more valuable than hog fuel at 30% moisture. 

For many hog fuel users, it is a byproduct of their operations, so hog fuel cost may not be important, but furnace control is. Without good moisture measurement of incoming hog fuel, air flow, temperature and throughput cannot be optimized. This requires excess fuel usage and drives up operating costs. Never mind the fact hog fuel can combust in heated enviorments and be completely lost-driving costs up further.

To learn more about how we can protect your hog fuel production, please fill out the contact form below.

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Featured Solutions

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  PSC-X80LT

  The PSC-X80LT is an industrial imager with 80x 80 pixels. Its autonomous operation (without continuous use of PC) with automatic hot spot finder and direct analog output make it ideal for a multitude of manufacturing process applications. The PSC-X410LT is a higher resolution industrial thermal imaging camera with 384 x 240 pixels and 80 Hz frame rate perfect for fast thermal processes. Both cameras share a temperature ranges within -20°C to 900°C (- 4°F to 1652°F) and can be switched from thermal imaging mode to line scanning mode.

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  PSC Surveyor Series Thermal Imaging Cameras

  The Process Sensors Surveyor camera series offers a comprehensive range of imaging and line scanning camera systems to continuously monitor and control industrial processes. Measures temperatures starting from -20 to 1800°C