PLC to replace spark detection/suppression system in LP ducting, good idea or bad?

SolarNinja said:

JustTheCowboy, and everyone else for that matter, bring up some very good points. I will discuss everything that I learned from this thread with the owner and production manager so a thorough cost and risk assessment may be performed. I am hoping that we can make our own system and get it UL approved, but I feel like we may need to speak with an attorney who knows insurance so we don't get caught with our pants down should an incident occur. Thanks again for all of the great information! Looking forward to hearing more of what people have to say.

Click to expand...

You should talk to your local Rockwell distributor on getting a guy named David Rasmussen from Rockwell to do a safety seminar at your facility. I'm sure he will give you some insight on the subject, especially on the L32E's ability to be used to perform safety functions.

bjh, isn't it a giggle when a person know everything and can't even wire a PLC module correctly.
Never heard of Dunning-Kruger before but that just sounds like us all, l'm sure nearly all of us would agree that's everyone else, not me though.
but off course it is me!

Fire systems are a little more complex than what appears on the surface. The first thing that I would ask you is how you are going to guarantee that your system would detect if your spark detector failed, or the wires got cut. In a fire system this would be detected.

With that in mind, I can't see any reason why you couldn't add your own "monitoring" system to equipment that already had a fire system installed on it. Belt and suspenders approach...

If what is going through your ducts is flammable/explosive, then you will want detectors that can be wired to intrinsically safe barriers, but otherwise I see no problem using a PLC for monitoring and control in addition to your fire system.