Hobré International,Fike forge strategic alliance to enhance spray dryer safety
The collaboration combines Hobré’s analytics expertise with Fike’s proven safety solutions.
EUROPE – Hobré International, a pioneer in online process analyzers, has entered into a strategic alliance with Fike Corporation, a global leader in industrial safety solutions, to prevent fires and explosions in industrial drying processes.
The partnership seeks to address a growing safety concern in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries, where spray dryers are widely used but remain highly vulnerable to combustible dust incidents.
By bringing together advanced monitoring technology and established explosion prevention solutions, Hobré and Fike aim to significantly cut down on the annual number of spray dryer incidents worldwide.
According to DustSafetyScience’s Combustible Dust Incident Report, spray dryers were linked to nearly 18% of all reported fire and explosion accidents in 2023. These systems are prone to smouldering clumps of product that, when exposed to high heat, can ignite and trigger dangerous dust cloud explosions.
The foundation of this collaboration is Hobré’s BICOSYS system, a monitoring technology that tracks carbon monoxide (CO) levels to identify the earliest stages of combustion up to 30 minutes before a fire may develop.
The system continuously monitors both the inflow and outflow of spray dryers, helping detect CO anomalies while minimizing false alarms from external sources such as exhaust pipes or vehicle emissions.
“Hobré’s BICOSYS system fills an important role in Fike’s continued efforts of explosion prevention. By identifying early-stage combustion, we can prevent large-scale fires and deflagrations, avoiding downtime and unnecessary activation of suppression systems,” said Jan-Bart Seymortier, Fike’s Director of Sales, Europe.
Alongside BICOSYS, Fike will integrate Hobré’s HICOSYS humidity monitoring system into its safety offering. The system ensures precise control of dryer humidity, reducing the risks of burning, product coagulation, and sticky deposits. In addition to enhancing safety, this technology supports greater operational efficiency and product consistency.
“This collaboration combines Hobré’s analytics expertise with Fike’s proven safety solutions to offer a one-stop, end-to-end safety package. The goal is simple: protect people, assets, and operations while reducing costs and downtime,” said Etienne Hunt, Hobré’s Global Sales Manager.
Beyond industrial drying industries, Fike Corporationoffers a comprehensive suite of protection standards in the milling and grain industry, featuring advanced fire and explosion safety solutions.
Fike’s explosion venting and suppression systems are engineered to protect high-risk equipment such as bucket elevators, silos, and roller mills before they escalate.
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