The new Hyster lift trucks have been converted by Pyroban to make drivers aware of flammable whisky vapours and shut down the equipment automatically if necessary.
“Our number one goal is safety,” said Sandy Taylor, warehouse manager from Chivas Brothers. “This architecturally remarkable site at Tormore is both a distillery and storage facility, and due to the high volume of ethanol from the whisky maturation process, it is a COMAH operation with Zone 2 hazardous areas.”
Casks from Chivas Brothers distilleries are stored at the site to mature over many years.
“Lift trucks are central to the handling operation in our maturation warehouses, but they need to be specially protected to eliminate the risk of ignition in case a flammable atmosphere forms,” he says.
Pyroban protection on the lift trucks is central to Tormore’s safety management process which incorporates gas detection to alert drivers to the presence of a flammable atmosphere.
The new Hyster E3.5XN electric lift trucks feature Pyroban’s system6000 which continuously monitors the direct environment around the trucks using infrared gas detection technology targeting ethanol.
Rob Vesty from Pyroban explains: “When a mixture of potentially flammable vapour in the air is detected it initially gives an audible and visual warning to the driver but if the vapour and air mix approaches potentially explosive levels the system shuts down the protected equipment automatically.”
Gas detection is combined with various other explosion protection methods, such as restricted breathing enclosures and surface temperature cooling to ensure the engine, motors, brakes, electrics and other components remain below the auto-ignition temperatures of flammable materials. In this case T3 (200°C) temperature limitation for ethanol.
Supplied by Briggs Equipment the Hyster trucks have been in operation for nearly a year. “They have worked extremely well,” says Taylor. “If there are any issues the local Briggs service engineer gives excellent support and is fully trained on the Pyroban safety systems.”
