Luna Innovations Incorporated won a USD 1 million contract to provide heat detection monitoring of 40 kilometers of conveyor belt in 11 South African mines. Luna?s contract is with Advanced Automated Systems (AASYS). To ensure the safety of their employees and protect their assets, Anglo American selected AASYS and the Luna Innovations LIOSTM fiber optic cable and heat detection system to provide a fast and reliable monitoring system.

The LIOS DE.TECT linear heat detection system can monitor up to 10 km of conveyor belt and provides fast and accurate information about overheating before a fire develops. The LIOS DE.TECT linear heat detection system continuously measures temperature with a resolution of 1°C or better and provides a response time of 4 seconds or less. In the event of a conveyor belt fire, the DE.TECT system provides immediate, location-specific information about the size of the fire and how it is spreading so efficient fire suppression can be deployed.

After reviewing numerous fire detection and prevention technologies, AASYS approved the DE.TECT system for heat detection in tunnels as well as conveyor belt malfunction detection.