A high-rack storage facility in Austria has been saved from devastation from fire, with the help of Wagner’s OxyReduct system.
The Roco automated storage facility has a capacity for 3000 pallets and is unmanned during normal operation. Due to a fault in the software controlling the rack feeders, some of the pallets had not been stored correctly, so obstructing the operation of two rack feeders. The first one shut down safely, but the motor in the second one overheated and smoke was generated from the motor windings (the burnt-out motor is shown opposite).
But that’s as far as the fire got. The OxyReduct system kept the air in the warehouse in a state in which a fire could not develop, keeping the oxygen at a reduced level by adding nitrogen to the air.
In addition, Wagner’s Titanus aspirating smoke detection system had been installed alongside the OxyReduct one. It detected the smoke and raised the alarm. The support team were not on the premises at the time the fault occurred, and it went unnoticed for some time. Without the installation of OxyReduct, says Wagner, the failure would have almost certainly caused a fire, resulting in significant damage.
