Sharrcem is the only cement plant in Kosovo, with an annual capacity exceeding 600,000 tons. Its key operations consist of the production, transportation, and distribution of cement, plus the transportation of fly ash and other raw materials. It is a critical part of the country’s value chain and the local community’s economy and society, as a key industrial site for cement production.
A complex site to protect
There are multiple buildings spanning the site, including several high-risk areas that require robust, reliable fire safety. Without this, a fire could spread rapidly due to the combustible chemicals and raw materials on site. High operating temperatures add to the risk. Making this challenge more complex, downtime at the Sharrcem plant needs to be minimised to reach production goals. Any fire safety solution considered by the leadership team at Sharrcem, therefore, needed to be reliable, robust, and meet local and international fire safety regulations.
With multiple other security and access control systems on-site, the fire safety solution needed to integrate with existing safety protocols and infrastructure. It was a complex job, which required the expertise of Professional Alarm, an installer of high security systems including surveillance, access control, fire alarms and more. Kentec, as a leading fire safety control systems manufacturer, was both the installer and customer’s first choice.
The solution
Across the high-risk areas, such as electrical warehouses and storage zones,12 SIGMA ZXT units were installed. This extinguishing release system, enables targeted extinguishing that limits damage and reduces overall cost, providing a rapid response to fire where needed. It reduces risk in areas with highly combustible materials and high temperatures while minimising spill over into other zones. The system can be configured to release the extinguishant on an alarm from any single zone or combination of multiple zones, with a main/reserve configuration option.
To limit access to only those who need it, the units come with four configurable user passwords that allow the team to see who has accessed a panel and any changes that they implemented.
Secure event logging can capture up to 1000 events, allowing for post-event investigations if needed.
Seamless integration
Drawing on Professional Alarm and Kentec’s experiences in integrating with wider security infrastructure, the units seamlessly integrate with existing safety protocols and systems at the plant.
