Plant safety set to improve thanks to new ESR Technology

​Fire and gas detection systems are set to become far more effective thanks to a market leading software tool

devised by ESR Technology (a Hyder Consulting group company), which has been created to enable the efficiency of such systems.

Fast and reliable fire and gas detection is a crucial aspect of ensuring plant safety, particularly in the oil and gas industry.

DELOS (Detector Location Optimisation Software), which was designed by ESR Technology’s Major Hazards Safety and Risk team, is a 3D Fire and Gas mapping tool that optimises the number and location of fire and gas detectors.

DELOS makes determining the best detector layouts easy. In its first project, it demonstrated that the level of detection coverage could be increased dramatically simply by re-orienting the same number of detectors. The technology provides the contractor with an opportunity to make significant cost savings while achieving the required safety standards.

DELOS operates in full 3D, is capable of loading complex CAD models and has in-built detection logic that is crucial in determining whether one detector layout is better than another. Results can be presented in 2D or 3D formats, whichever provides the most information.

Simon Randall, Managing Director, Energy and Environment at Hyder, said: “DELOS has been developed in response to increasing demand for such studies to be completed alongside Quantitative Risk Assessments, which are the mainstay of the Safety and Risk Management group.

“It adds to a long history of the group creating bespoke in-house software where other consultants would have to buy existing off the shelf software or outsource the work.”