Advanced Photonics
Fight Fire with Fibre
Fire Protection Systems
Avoid a fire with early detection using fiber optic distributed temperature sensing.
Commercial Fire Detection Systems
Harness the power of linear heat detection with cutting edge fire protection technologies.
Welcome to
Advanced Photonics Australia
Advanced Photonics Australia’s fiber optic distributed temperature sensing solutions include Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) And Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for a wide range of heavy industry applications. We have adopted the latest proven technology in the field of Photonics to engineer industry leading commercial, industrial and mine safety technologies for even the most onerous operating environments. Our fire monitoring systems provide continuous condition monitoring of key assets. This protects the safety of staff and allows for a predictive asset management approach to be established which minimises unplanned outages and avoids unnecessary maintenance of equipment.
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Improve Your Safety
Disaster Prevention
Tunnel Fires
Fire detection in long and inaccessible areas
Conveyor Fires
Detects heat build-up above & below conveyor
Cable Insulation Burnout
Monitor and detect temperature increases in power and utility cables
Pipeline Leakage
Pipeline Leakage or Blockage Detection
Tank Farm Fires
Prevent major fire explosion incidents from occuring
Coal Bunker Fires
Fire Prevention/Detection – Coal Storage
Motor / Pulley Bearing Failure
Condition Monitoring– Motor/Pulley Bearings
Conveyor Idler Failure
Condition Monitoring / Preventative Maintenance
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Please select from the following options:
Cutting Edge
Technology
Cable Properties
Very small diameter and weight – fast heat transfer – short response time – fast fire detection and precise temperature and location measurement.
FRNC (Fire Resistant Non-Corrosive) steel cable, fire rated for 2hrs @ 750 degrees centigrade.
Maintenance Free
Sensor cable and detector are maintenance-free – no maintenance operations are required to maintain detector operation e.g. filter changes, calibration or cleaning.
Sensor cable has 40 years design longevity.
DTS detector with sensor cables obtained VdS certificate as heat detector with highest A1/A2 class acc. to EN 54-5 with sensor cable lengths up to 10 km
Explosion Safety
DTS detector uses laser light emitter of very low power – laser class 1 (<20 mW).
Low laser light power allows sensor cable to be installed in explosive atmospheres, e.g. coal mines, gas and dust environments.
Simple Installation
Small bending radius, combined with basic mounted requirements on new or existing cable ladder, piping or equipment structures.
Increasing Availability
Through these System Configurations
DTS system without Redundancy
Sensor cable as open line, no sensor cable redundancy, no detector redundancy.
EN 54-22: maximum area protected by sensor cable = 1600m2
AS1670.1: maximum zone area = 2000m2
DTS System with Cable Redundancy
Sensor cable as loop, detector with 2 channels, no detector redundancy.
EN 54-22: maximum are protected with sensor cable as loop = 10000m2
DTS System for Full Redundancy
Sensor cables as 2 loops, two DTS detectors, full redundancy – highest reliability.
EN 54-22: maximum area protected by sensor cable as loop between two detectors = 10000m2 for each sensor cable loop.
Testimonials
Keeping you informed
Recent Articles
Advanced Photonics Australia completes commissioning of Morobe Consolidated Goldfields Conveyor Fire Detection (DTS) System
Advanced Photonics Australia’s Director Ubaldo Torre is proud to announce the completion of commissioning of a conveyor fire detection system for MCG (part of the Harmony Gold group) conveyor fire detection system situated in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.
The unique challenge for this project was commissioning the system whilst not being on site due to the COVID19 travel restrictions. Our experienced staff took direct control of the DTS system via a secure communication link, with the remote commissioning completed successfully from Australia to PNG with the cooperation of site staff. The contract provided a fully redundant fibre optic cable DTS based fire detection system for the crushing processing plant and overland conveyor (5.4 km length). The system provides full area coverage from the crushing plant down to the refinery via the overland conveyor. A particular challenge for this project is the route of the overland conveyor (tubular belt design), twisting up the mountain side with frequent 90° curved bends.Our Solution
Our solution includes dual DTS units, one at each of the conveyor system including redundant detection channels, plus redundant fibre optic cabling to provide a total conveyor fire detection system. In addition to fire detection, this design will provide early warning of abnormal heat build-up to minimise the potential serious consequences of equipment overheating, which could endanger personnel, damage the mine and equipment. In summary, the Hidden Valley mine identified the need for conveyor fire detection which provides:- Conveyor fire detection coverage;
- Interface not only to the fire alarm system, but fully integrated with their existing site DCS control system for
- Early warning of abnormal heat build-up
- Exact localization of the abnormal heat or fire within a metre;
- Fire event management (i.e. evacuation, fire-fighting activities)
- Full history of the fire initiation point, its movement/spread, temperatures reached, with date/time stamping for the eventual reporting & investigation
- Automatic activation of conveyor deluge systems at critical areas of the plant;
- A maintenance free fire detection system requiring no calibration;
- A 24x7 fire detection and temperature monitoring system that increases safety for the protection of people and fixed assets.
The DTS Key Components
The cable is the sensor
Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) technology using a linear heat detector laser source through a single fibre optic core measuring 4 mm in diameter. It has been successfully tested and deployed in both surface and underground mines. The ruggedized fibre optic based system has the capacity to detect heat build-up quickly and localize the source to within 0.5 metres. This precision is unaffected by wind and other environmental effects, because not only convective, but also conductive and radiant (infrared) heat is detected by the cable. The fibre optic cable is:- Accredited for fire detection use (flame resistance 750°C for 2 hours, IEC 60331).
- Doesn’t propagate the flame along the cable (IEC60332-3).
- Can be installed in harsh environments (stainless steel cable sheath with high crush resistance).
- Is immune to EMI (electromagnetic interference).
- Requires no maintenance, after it is installed.
- The sensor, no other cabling or field interface devices required.
The DTS system’s capabilities include:
- 24x7 remote temperature monitoring of the entire length, for total coverage.
- Provides not only the temperature but the actual location of the fire.
- It provides early warning of abnormal heat before a flame occurs.
- Interfaces to fire alarm panels & existing site HMI/SCADA systems.
- Safety Integrity Level SIL2 (IEC61508) for high reliability when asked to alarm.
- Available in 19” rack or IP66 external stainless steel enclosures.
Report: Safety report shows fire & explosion top risk in coal mines
The latest quarterly report (January-March 2020) from the NSW Resources Regulator shows that fires & explosions in coal mines are the number 1 driver of incident notifications.
Coal mines account for 3 in 4 total incident notifications and of these, 40% are related to fires and explosions.
Fires on mine sites can endanger staff, compromise valuable equipment and increase downtime. How is your mine site protected?
Advanced Photonics Australia uses market-leading technology to allow detection of the the earliest warning signs of fire (e.g. smouldering coal) over large areas, enabling critical action (like fire suppression) to avoid irreversible and damaging events.
Find out more. 
Glencore Coal Conveyor & Tunnel Fire Detection Update: 5km conveyors protected
Advanced Photonics Australia is proud to announce the completion of the commissioning of the conveyor fire detection system at Glencore Bulga Coal.
The raw coal, product coal, and train loading conveyor and reclaim tunnel fire detection system was put into operation this month allowing Bulga Coal to fully protect 10 conveyors covering a total of 5 km in length. The linear heat detection fibre optic system also provides early warning of abnormal heat build-up around equipment. This will minimise the risk of potential serious consequences of equipment overheating, which could endanger personnel, damage the mine and equipment. Temperature monitoring, alarms and historical trends have been integrated into the plant’s SCADA system. The system’s objectives have been fully met for the Glencore managed Bulga Open Cut Mine which included:- Conveyor fire detection coverage;
- Interface not only to the fire alarm system, but fully integrated with their existing site SCADA for
- Early warning of abnormal heat build-up
- Exact localisation of the abnormal heat or fire within a metre;
- Fire event management (i.e. evacuation, fire-fighting activities)
- Full history of the fire initiation point, its movement/spread, temperatures reached, with date/time stamping for the eventual reporting & investigation
- Option for automatic activation of fire suppression systems;
- A maintenance free fire detection system requiring no calibration;
- A 24x7 fire detection and temperature monitoring system that increases safety for the protection of people and fixed assets.
Our solution
An overview of the commissioned areas and future (yellow) sections, spread across the coal handling and preparation plant.
How it works
The cable is the sensor. Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) technology using a linear heat detector laser source through a single fibre optic core measuring 4 mm in diameter. It has been successfully tested and deployed in both surface and underground mines. The ruggedized fibre optic based system has the capacity to detect heat build-up quickly and localise the source to within 0.5 metres. This precision is unaffected by wind and other environmental effects, because not only convective, but also conductive and radiant (infrared) heat is detected by the cable. The fibre optic cable is:- Accredited for fire detection use (flame resistance 750°C for 2 hours, IEC 60331)
- Doesn’t propagate the flame along the cable (IEC60332-3).
- Can be installed in harsh environments (stainless steel cable sheath with high crush resistance).
- Is immune to EMI (electromagnetic interference).
- Requires no maintenance, after it is installed.
- The sensor, no other cabling or field interface devices required.
The DTS system’s capabilities include:
- 24x7 remote temperature monitoring of the entire length, for total coverage.
- Provides not only the temperature but the actual location of the fire.
- It provides early warning of abnormal heat before a flame occurs.
- Interfaces to fire alarm panels & existing site HMI/SCADA systems.
- Safety Integrity Level SIL2 (IEC61508) for high reliability when asked to alarm
- Available in 19” rack or IP66 external stainless steel enclosures