Specialized Device monitoring? Much more than standard Burglar and Fire systems That can save the day in commercial and industrial settings

 Note: this article is from 2004 Security Mission site and Northside Packing is no longer a customer 

when I developed stage 4 colon cancer they had to go to some one else but they still appreciate all the work i did for them .

Unfortunately most equipment i used for this project is no longer made

 

 

Specialized Device monitoring?

Much more than standard Burglar and Fire systems

That can save the day in commercial and industrial settings

 

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

 

While many Commercial and industrial facilities have the standard Burglar and Fire Alarm

Systems they have monitored there is a whole other world of items which 24 hr monitoring can prove beneficial such as museums monitoring for water damage from roof and pipe leaks to monitoring for excessive heat, cold or humidity to prevent damage to there collections which I installed at Photo Antiquities a 19^th Century Photographic Museums in Pittsburgh’s North side

Also Many factories’ benefit by having various systems being monitored for not only safety but to help keep production at an even keel

Take the Meat Packing facility owned by the Smithfield Group located near Pittsburgh Pa. I have been slowly adding various monitoring devices to help with plant safety and productivity

One of the first systems I installed was a Wireless alarm to alert both plant Security and Maintenance when there was a flame out or other problem with the plants boiler system 

Before the system I installed was in place often times the 2 steam boiler’s which are used on the production line could be off line and plant personnel would not know unless plant security was patrolling nearby and heard the trouble bell and by the time the steam pressure dropped and was noticed it could take up to 45 minutes to build steam backup causing the loss of 1-2 hours of production time. Which can be significant when you have

Up to 100 people standing around not working.

To solve the problem I used 2 FBII XL-4 Panels by Honeywell, Which allow for many versatile wiring set ups and responses and has a 128 point log that can help track when something happened. Which I tied Linear Midrange wireless transceivers which can work up to 5 miles in the 27 Mhz Band along with some Piezo sounders and multi colored Revere Strobe Lights to identify, were the problem was located in the plant.

One panel is located at the Guard shack were I installed a large clear strobe outside the shack to get the Guards attention if there is an alarm condition should he be patrolling and the second panel is located directly in the Maintenance shop with 4 different strobe lights When a condition arises the small Piezo activates the alarm condition displays in English on the keypad and appropriate strobe light turns on. The entire system is on battery backup as well. One of the trickier issues with the boilers was the fact I had to work with live 480-volt power I am a qualified Electrician and had to take appropriate safety precautions when tying into the various relays on the boilers. This is one area I have the advantage over many alarm companys as I can bid and do the entire job including the high voltage end of the hook ups which many alarm companys are hesitant to do and require companys to hire an electrician or have there plant maintenance people do. Now when a boiler goes of line due to flame fail etc the plants staff is immediately notified and boilers can be quickly brought back on line eliminating the lost production time. With the success of the Boiler alarms we started expanding the system further by adding the Ammonia Compressors which provide the 20 below temps needed to flash freeze the meat product as it comes off of the line again the faster plant staff know the faster they can be restarted and production kept in time. The latest addition now includes

Two ammonia sensors that detect the presence of ammonia gas in the discharge pipes at the plant if there is a problem with the compressors over pressurizing. This also allows Plant staff knows faster if the leak is serious and if plant would need evacuated.

We also plan to pick up temp sensors in the enormous freezers in the plant as well.

I also have several clients Including Shanahan Transportation Systems Inc. who are Freight Forwarders there computer servers handle 55 Million dollars worth of shipping on a daily basis for routing of trucks and goods so knowing ac power is o and operating at all times is critical besides the alarm system sending a low AC the system also has a auxiliary voice dialer made by United security products AD-2001 which dials 4 different cell phones and my dialer so even if the central station gets hit with a rash of low ac calls I get notified by pager  the on call person at Shanahans and the central all get notified as a double check system to make sure power is restored and running by there back up generator. Three Phase power also is critical for facilities as loss of one power phase can be devastating to equiptment if not shut down promptly I designed just such a system for Pittsburgh Custom Darkroom in Pittsburgh’s North Side which uses 3 phase power for several large film processors when there is any kind of incoming problem with the AC power phase loss, reversal, low power etc. a aloud siren comes on to warn operators to shift over to manual film processing to save film from being destroyed ,I also rigged up timers so machines automatically start and are warmed up and ready when employees arrive for work Another customer were I have added extra monitoring features to is Oil Service Inc on Neville Island which has many hazardous industries Oil Service sells and recycle specialized oil blends for industry knowing there is a

Leak in a one of there tank farms is critical along with knowing personnel are safe using a Napco 6000 fire panel to monitor heat detectors at the card key diesel pumps which also

Shuts down the pumps if the heats activate and monitors smoke detectors in office area and heat detectors thru out the faculty there is also 2 Ademco/Honeywell Vista 128-BP panels one for the office and one which handles the warehouse and tank farm

Mini floats are in each tank farm which are monitored Via V-Vplex technology and there are emergency buttons thru out the facility should an accident occur or assistance is needed which also activates strobe lights and sirens and special codes are sent to he central station for what problem is happening thru out the facility should a tank alert come in during the night the volunteer fire dept hazmat team is put on immediate alert.

In addition the vista panels provide Card access so drivers can pick up material at night.

And the facility has cameras as well the fleet of trucks which delivers oil also use a GPS tracking units I installed to verify were drivers are located.

By working closely with customers I have been able to meet all of their worries and needs with some unique setups so they can sleep better at night.