Multi-application technology covers state-of-the-art recycling centre

Serving more than 1.4 million people, Global Renewables Lancashire processes over 300,000 tonnes of household rubbish annually at two new process facilities – one in Leyland, near Preston and the other at Thornton, near Blackpool. Both of these vast sites use state-of-the-art machinery, and have been equipped with integrated CCTV and emergency call station networks by Hirst and Danson Electrical Contractors (part of The Hirst and Danson Group Limited), with technology supplied via Norbain.

The reduction, recovery and recycling (UR-3R) process reclaims recyclables for re-use and transforms the organic portion of the remaining waste into a high quality compost-type product, called Organic Growth Medium (OGM). As part of the Lancashire waste private finance initiative the OGM will be used to plant over 2.5 million trees on brownfield sites, with the aim to improve the natural environment.

During the construction of the two sites, Hirst and Danson were enlisted to provide CCTV networks for security, health and safety monitoring and process control management. Gary Jones, estimator – security and data for Hirst and Danson explains:

“Global Renewables required two very similar installations at each of their processing sites. Each installation needed to provide perimeter security protection, a series of process control cameras to monitor all points of the rubbish sorting and UR-3R process, ANPR technology to identify each of the high volume of vehicles on site, and an automated fire detection system to ensure staff safety.

“Our long-standing relationship with Norbain means that the latest developments in the rapidly moving security industry are only a phone call away. Obliged to meet tight construction deadlines for the project and working around other contractors during the build of both facilities, a reliable product supply from a technically proficient supplier like Norbain was a great help.”

Hirst and Danson installed four Bosch MIC 400S IP68 stainless steel domes to monitor the UR-3R process in each of the maturation halls, where organic matter is broken down. “Here, airborne particulates emitted by the maturation process can prove harmful to ‘standard’ cameras,” explains Gary Jones. “By selecting the Bosch MIC 400S IP68 domes, we were able to ensure an extended service life for each camera position under harsh operating conditions that regularly exceed 40 degrees, along with high humidity.”

Meanwhile, 50 Pelco C10-CH-7X static cameras backed by 18 Pelco SD418-PG-E1-X fully functional dome cameras were installed to secure the perimeter at each site. Minimising on-site cabling and installation time, each camera is connected to the control room via NVT UTP video transmission over a dedicated Cat5 cable network. Using Norbain supplied NVT NV-214 A-M single channel passive transceivers on each camera, the UTP cable carries high quality video signals to an NVT NV-1672 and five NVT NV-3272 DigitalEQTM receiver hubs – providing spare capacity should additional camera positions be needed in the future.

Connected to a Dedicated Micros DV-IP encoder in an adjacent equipment rack in the control room, camera imagery is transferred onto the Global Renewables IP network, and archived for retrospective investigation. This hybrid solution is said to be ideal for the twin sites, providing an economical camera network combined with the ability to transfer CCTV monitoring for off-site viewing by the Global Renewables management team.

Using the Dedicated Micros DV-IP system also enables the use of video analytics to provide ‘virtual’ on-screen trip wires across both sites, instantly triggering an alarm to alert operators should the site perimeter be breached.

Additionally, the DV-IP technology allows any vehicle entering the two sites to be identified via ANPR and (via integration to the weighbridge) automatically issued with a weighbridge ticket.

Fire detection in the processing areas is provided via 10 Dtec Firevu processors, automatically alarming should smoke be detected on-screen.

Each site’s network of cameras is controlled via BBV Pick-A-Point ICON bespoke graphical user interfaces running on powerful PCs located in the site control rooms. The system offers simple control of each camera network, affording experienced and new users comprehensive control of all cameras and simple ‘point and click’ camera switching.

Providing on-site emergency assistance, BPT emergency call stations were also installed at strategic points across the two sites. With their locations designed to be easily accessible from any part of the facilities, any potential incident or hazard can be directly reported to the control room with the touch of a button. Should any of the seven stations per site be activated, the nearest fully- functional dome camera is automatically positioned to show the call point and the person making the call. This gives control room operators the ability to verify any incident as soon as the call is activated.

The integrated security technology provided by Hirst and Danson is now providing effective security and ensuring the smooth running of the site on a daily basis, as Sue Woodhouse, communications manager at Global Renewables explains:

“When investing in a new technology it is always important that we receive a good return on our investment and that the technology is as future-proof as possible. Hirst and Danson have provided a very useable package that covers all our security, health and safety and process control requirements – providing effective high resolution visual verification and documentation around all aspects of our revolutionary waste processing sites.”