Fire Safety in Biomass Storage
Starts with Flir Early Fire Detection
Early Fire Detection
Biomass Piles
Safety That Pays Off
From composting sites and farms to biofuel plants, sugar mills, and wood chip yards, biomass piles can hide dangerous heat you can’t see with the naked eye. Microbial activity, dry organic matter, trapped moisture, and poor airflow all raise the risk of smoldering, spontaneous combustion, and fast-spreading fires.
Flir’s advanced thermal imaging solutions give you continuous visibility into large, hard-to-monitor piles so you can detect heat buildup early—long before smoke, flame, or traditional sensors respond. The result: safer people, protected assets, less downtime, and more confidence in your sustainability goals.
Agricultural Waste Storage
Baled straw, crop residues, and other agricultural waste are highly combustible—especially when stored outdoors, exposed to sun, wind, and changing weather. Infrequent monitoring and large stockpiles make it easy for small hot spots to go unnoticed until it’s too late.
Flir thermal imaging solutions give farm and storage operators a clear, real-time view of temperature conditions across their piles. Wide-area monitoring and targeted spot checks make it easier to find and manage risk zones, reduce the likelihood of spontaneous ignition, and protect both assets and surrounding land from fire.
Biofuel Plants
Biofuel processing zones run hot by design. Conveyors, dryers, grinders, and storage bunkers all generate heat and dust—creating conditions where a single undetected hot spot can trigger fires or even explosions.
Flir thermal monitoring provides continuous oversight of critical biofuel plant areas, from processing lines and storage vessels to dust-prone locations. By identifying heat anomalies early, safety and maintenance teams can intervene before conditions escalate, helping plants stay safe, productive, and aligned with regulatory requirements for renewable energy operations.
Sugarcane Bagasse Storage
Bagasse retains both heat and moisture, creating ideal conditions for slow, smoldering fires to develop deep within the pile where airflow is limited. These hidden fires can spread unnoticed and suddenly break out into open flame.
Flir thermal imaging brings transparency to bagasse storage. Continuous monitoring of pile surfaces, edges, and vents helps you spot smoldering pockets early, direct mechanical intervention to the right areas, and prevent small hot spots from becoming large-scale fires that disrupt mill operations.
Wood Chip Yards
Wood chips and biomass fuels are literally built to burn—and when stored in large yards, they’re difficult to monitor manually. Dust, dry material, and constantly changing pile geometry make it challenging to stay ahead of hidden heat.
Flir’s wide-area thermal coverage helps you keep eyes on every pile, every shift. Operators can quickly scan for abnormal heat zones, verify risks visually, and coordinate a fast response. With early fire detection in place, you can protect stock, maintain supply to downstream processes, and reassure stakeholders that your biomass yard is managed safely.
Why Choose Flir?
- See heat before it becomes fire: Detect microbial heat, smoldering pockets, and hot spots long before visible signs appear.
- Protect people, product, and uptime: Reduce fire risk, operational disruption, and costly product losses in high-risk biomass environments.
- Cover large and complex sites: Gain thermal visibility across big piles, outdoor yards, and confined storage zones that are hard to inspect manually.
- Support compliance and insurance: Use thermal data and imagery to simplify audits, demonstrate due diligence, and strengthen your safety case.
- Built for integration and growth: Connect thermal monitoring with your existing control, alarm, and reporting systems for a smarter, scalable fire safety strategy.