Fire protection solutions for the printing industry

Safe for certain.

BRANCH SOLUTION

Printing plants, with their entirecompany processes focused onpunctual delivery to their cus-tomers, cannot afford to makeany compromises when it comesto fire protection. Whetherthey use offset, relief, gravureor screen printing machines, ifsources of ignition in the pro-duction process are not alreadydetected in the originationphase and nipped in the bud,the result can be a devastatingfire. The company may be in-sured against interruptions inproduction, but there is no re-placement for lost customersand market shares. The protec-tion of human life and of facil-ities therefore necessitates theuse of special fire protectionsystems, which are exactlyadapted to the required pro-cess technology.

Fire risks in the printing industryUse of flammable materials

Formation of explosive con-centrations of colorants andsolvents

Heating of printed materialin the machine by mechan-ical friction heat from

fast-moving parts or in the drying process

Static electricity in con-nection with flammablecolorants or solvents

Deposits of colorants, syn-thetics or paper in themachine and in ventilationand exhaust ducts

RISKS

Complete solutions from Minimax fulfill high standards:availability, successful fire extinguishing and uninterrupted operation of the fire protection system.

Minimax provides reliable fire protectionThe fire protection concept forprinting machines focuses onan extremely fast respondingfire extinguishing system that

automatically detects criticalfire hazards and fights bur-geoning fires with argon orcarbon dioxide. Parallel to theextinguishing process, it initi-ates important control actions,

e.g. to interrupt the supply ofcolorants or material, to switchoff machines and drying sys-tems, and to activate the alarmorganization.

CONCEPTRELIABLE ALL-ROUND FIRE PROTECTION

Areas of application

Printing units

Drying and exhaust systems

Folding machines

Paint and paper warehouses

Entire machine areas withinthe noise protection encap-sulation

Argotec®

fire extinguishing systemThe extinguishing agent –argon or carbon dioxide – isstored either in high-pressuresteel cylinders, which are com-bined in special racks with asuspension system to form anextinguishant unit, or in low-pressure vessels, if the protec-tion scheme requires largequantities of extinguishant. Inthe event of a fire, the extin-guishing process is releasedand controlled automatically.

The pipe network with extin-guishing nozzles ensures fastbuildup of the extinguishantconcentration in the protectedarea. The burgeoning fire isextinguished before it cancause major damage. A volumeprotection system is used forencapsulated machines. Nor-mally, individual system com-ponents of large printingmachines are protected by alocal protection system, whichdirects the extinguishant atthe fire source by means of

local protection nozzles. After the fire has been extin-guished, the printing machineis soon ready for operationagain, since the use of argonor carbon dioxide as an extin-guishant leaves no residuebehind and the extinguishantis returned to the atmosphereby means of ventilation. After the fire has been extin-guished, all that remains is toreplenish the extinguishantsupply.

Fast fire fighting withoutextinguishant residue

Minimization of inter-ruptions in productionwithout impairment ofmachine functionality

No damage to electric and electronic devices

Economical and readilyavailable extinguishant

Efficient fire fighting for non-encapsulatedmachines

No significant temperaturedecrease caused by extin-guishant

Direct discharge at printing unit

Economical modularsystem

Compact system saves space

Approved and certified quality

Maximum safety, also for the environment

EXTINGUISHINGBRANCH SOLUTION

Advantages of the Argotec®

inert gas extinguishing technology

FAST AND EFFECTIVELY

Fire detectionThe high concentration of sol-vents means that open flamescan be expected during out-break of the fire. Automaticearly detection is ensured byflame or heat differentialmaximum detectors that arearranged in the danger zones.In combination, these twosystems ensure high sensitivityand reliability in addition tomaximum elimination of falsealarms. For manual release,push-button units are providedon the machine control paneland near the escape routes. As soon as a detector detectsa fire, the fire alarm panelinitiates the shut-down of theprinting machines, activatesvisual and acoustic alarms thatdisplay the danger status andactivates the extinguishingsystem. The machine operatorcan initiate follow-up extin-guishing at any time.

BRANCH SOLUTION

� Smoke aspirating detector withinthe noise protection encapsulation

� Heat detector in the air outlet� Flame detector at the printing unit

� Manual release at the machineoperation desk and escape routes

� CO2 extinguishing nozzles for localprotection and volume protection

A DANGER FORESEEN IS HALF AVOIDED

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For larger applications, thecombination of local protec-tion and volume protectionsystems optimizes the fire protection scheme. “Fastextinguishing” by the localprotection system extendsdirectly to the immediatelyaffected printing unit andextinguishes the fire usingonly very little extinguishant.Only if the fire escalates, thevolume protection system isthen automatically activatedin the second stage. Due to itsvolume, the extinguishantsupply can be stored in liquidstate in a space-saving low-pressure vessel for largerapplications requiring thiscombination of local and volume protection systems.

Compactextinguishing systemsFor smaller printing machines,the compact extinguishingsystem is recommended forlocal protection. In this system,all function-relevant compo-nents are combined in a singleunit with various function andaccommodated in a cabinet,where they are protected fromdust and moisture and me-chanical damage: The systemis made up of a rack with freely suspended extinguish-ing gas cylinders, includingweighing devices with anelectronically monitored lossindicator and an electromag-netic extinguishant release, inaddition to a fire alarm andcontrol panel integrated inthe front door that is con-nected with the detectors,which react to heat or smoke,for activation of the extin-guishing unit in the event of a fire.

MINIMAX USA240 South Vasco Road, Suite ALivermore, CA 94551Phone 925.583.1352Fax 925.215.2291Email rharvey@mxfire.comwww.mxfire.com

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RISK-RELATED FIRE PROTECTION