TEA FACTORY FIRE RISK MANAGEMENT D.R.Abeywickrama 06/9306 Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science industrial Automation. University of Moratuwa III III Ol-ll 102535 G 2 > Department of Electrical Engineering U 5 Cp^ ." University of Moratuwa "TH Srilanka _ ^ ' December-2011 102535 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university and to the best of my knowledge and belief it does not contain any material previously published, written or orally communicated by another person except, where due reference is made in the text. Also, I hereby grant to university of Moratuwa the non-exclusive right to reproduce and distribute my thesis/dissertation,in whole or part in print,electronic or other medium.I retain the right to use this content in whole or part in future works(such as articles or books) D.R.Abeywickrama The above candidate has carried out research for the Masters dissertation under my supervision. 0 6 / 9 1 Professor J.P Karunadasa Head of Electrical Engineering, University of Moratuwa. Srilanka. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT From the very beginning I would like to offer my grateful thanks to Professor.J.P Karunadasa Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, and University of Moratuwa, who guided and supervised me as my supervisor an excellent way through out the research. Then I must offer my sincere thanks to Dr. D.P Chandima, Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Moratuwa, who guided me in all aspect being my course Coordinator. Staff of the claims department of srilanka Insurance Corporation specially, Palitha reminded with heartful of thanks for their support given me in various occasions. I warmly remind my beloved parents, sister, brother and my wife for all the encouragement and the support given me as usual. Without their help this effect would have not been success. Finally, I would like to thanks all postgraduate students of Industrial automation 2006 group, specially Nayantha, Ajith, Chandika & Prem who were with me and gave the best support me to successful this event by making the masters work pleasant and enjoyable. iv ABSTRACT In average, 2-3 no of total fire loss claims have been recorded at tea factories in Srilanka every year. As an Insurance Engineer, we have been experienced that financial losses were considerable high amount as result of fire losses. The objective is to determine cause of the tea factory fires and manage tea factory fire risk. I have analyzed tea factory claims which were intimated from 2005-2009 at Srilanka insurance. Then Identify cause of the damage for each and every fire case and find out most vulnerable area/machine in the tea factory. Then carried out technical comparison of the effected dryers agianst the new dryer units at the current market, then propose optimal solution for identified area to avert fire risk in the tea factory, finally I have performed cost benefit study regarding my solution against Insurance premium. It has been highlighted that fires which were driven from dryers are most disasters & caused heavy financial losses according to the study. Also fire risk is high in old dryer units compared to new dryer units available at the market due to its superior construction and safety aspects. My conclusion is that Infrared detector coupled with auto alarm system is very good fire risk management solution for tea factory. According to the cost benefit analysis more than 150 million value tea factories will receive cost benefit soon after they installed I.R detector system. But below 150 million sums insured tea factories also have a gradual cost benefit but intangible nature of saving as result of installation of proposed system is enormous as one fire means huge financial loss. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement Abstract Contents List of Tables List of Figures 1.Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Tea production process 2. Literature survey 2.1 Literature review 2.2 Fire case studies 2.3 Analysis of case studies 3. Affected System V.S New Systems 3.1 Conventional tea heater & dryer 3.2 New dryers & heaters 3.3 Fire vulnerably of old system 3.4 Suitability of new systems 4. Tea Factory Insurance Warranties 4.1 Tea factory warrantees 4.2 Technical optimal insurance solution 5. Fire Risk Assessment 5.1 Fire risk assessment 5.2 Risk conclusion 5.2 Risk assesment-Example-2 6. Fire Risk Management 6.1 Suitable fire detection system for dryer 6.2 Recommendations 6.3 Lightning surge protection 6.4 Cost Benefit Analysis 7. Conclusion References List Annexure vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1 Summary cause of damages 20 Table 3.1 Conquest dryer specifications 31 Table 3.2 Tempest dryer specifications 34 Table 3.3 Comparison of old system & new system 36 Table 5.1 Risk classification 57 Table 6.1 Ignition Temperature of tea 66 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 Through unit 02 Figure 1.2 Tea roller 02 Figure 1.3 Tea dryer 03 Figure 1.4 Sifting machine 04 Figure 1.5 Color sorter 04 Figure 2.1 Tea factory claim list 06 Figure 2.2 Damage power generator 10 Figure 2.3 Damage stator 10 Figure 3.1 Side view of dryer 24 Figure 3.2 Front section of dryer 24 Figure 3.3 Process air flow diagram 27 Figure 3.4 Internal tubes of heater 28 Figure 3.5 External heater arrangement 28 Figure 3.6 Conquest dryer 29 Figure 3.7 Tempest dryer 32 Figure 6.1 Spark detection Vs I.R detection 68 Figure 6.2 I.R.L 800 spark detector 74 Figure 6.3 I.R detector installation 75 Figure 6.4 Auto alarm buzzer 76 Figure 6.5 Fire hose reel 77 Figure 6.6 Lighting conductor 84 vn