Internet of Things network from A1 became the basis of a fire safety solution for peat digging sites

A1 Enterprise used its NB-IoT network to implement a new project: now equipment with thermal sensors and integrated SIM chips from A1 will monitor the temperature of peat piles in storage areas to prevent their spontaneous combustion. And Internet of Things will be used for data transfer.

Spontaneous combustion of peat is a relevant issue faced by peat mining enterprises every year. Under certain conditions, stacks of peat begin to warm up from the inside during storage. Once the temperature reaches 60 to 65 °С, the raw material begins to smolder and burn. Such fires carry significant economic and ecological consequences. And monitoring the temperature inside the peat heaps is the only way to prevent them from smoldering.

Until now, appropriate measurements were taken manually: the personnel of peat-mining facilities went around the storage piles and collected data on their condition on a daily basis. But now this task is performed by Region-telematic stand-alone telemetry systems developed by Evropribor SPC Ltd. and tested on the basis of Brestoblgaz Unitary Enterprise. The installation can control up to eight temperature points in the range of -60 to +300°C without an external power source. A low-power NB-IoT channel from A1 is used for telemetry, and the data itself can be integrated into any dispatching system or transferred to the cloud.

NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things) is a wireless communication standard designed for the Internet of Things (IoT). It ensures the operation of telemetry devices in cases when channel width and the amount of transmitted data are not as critical, as a long battery life and extensive signal coverage.

The NB-IoT network operates even at low signal levels, so it can be used to collect data from sensors located in the most challenging and remote locations. And the large capacity of the NB-IoT network allows adding tens of thousands of devices to a single base station. At the same time, the life of the built-in battery of NB-IoT devices can reach ten years in power saving mode.

An interesting feature of the solution was the choice to use SIM chips instead of traditional SIM-cards. Unlike the latter, the chips are mounted directly on the printed circuit board. It provides a number of advantages, including a wider operating temperature range and higher electrical resistance.

A1 has focused on deploying NB-IoT coverage according to the needs of the corporate customer. Today the network is comprised of over 750 base stations throughout Belarus. The company employs new capacities to satisfy the customer needs.

The implemented system allows for a constant monitoring and tracking of the temperature dynamics within peat storage piles, preventing spontaneous combustion events in the peat fields. The size of a single storage pile can reach 10,000 cubic meters. If it burns, the facility will suffer losses of around 300 thousand rubles for the burned down peat alone. And the losses increase manifold if we take into account the cost of putting out a fire using resources of the Emergency Situations Ministry, as well as the damage done to the environment and public health.

Besides the peat processing enterprises, the solution powered by NB-IoT and Region-telematic systems can be used in other areas where temperature data monitoring is required. For example, our partners are now considering the possibility of using it in agriculture to monitor the temperature of haylage in silo storage tanks. Furthermore, the system can easily be adapted to monitor the pressure of various media, as well as control complex indicators (pressure and temperature). This allows us to expand the scope of the solution to the enterprises of the energy industry, petrochemical complexes, general goods industry.