FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a low cost automatic water sprayer system. More particularly
the present invention relates to an automatic water sprayer system with alarm for protection
against burning/ damage of conveyor belts due to accidental transportation of hot sinter in
Sinter Plant. Same can be used for other cases also where rubber conveyor belt is used to
transport a material which may cause fire due to accidental transportation of same in hot
condition.
BACKGROUND AND THE PRIOR ART
In Sinter Plant, produced sinter is cooled in sinter cooler and transported through series of
conveyor belts. Sometimes sinter is not cooled in sinter cooling stage and red hot / hot sinter
is transported through conveyor belts, causing burning / damage of belts. This in turn forces
stoppage of production/ immature replacement of conveyor belts. As per data obtained from
Sinter Plant an analysis has been made to find out the financial impact for production
opportunity loss and belt changes for last one year (Mar'11-Feb'12) which has been shown in
table 1.
In Mar 2011, an incident of fire took place due to accidental transportation of hot sinter
through conveyor belt at Old Sinter Plant (SP-I), for which huge damage of conveyor belts
and Sinter Plant occurred and production was suspended for 137.5 hours. To avoid recurrence
of such incident Sinter Plant has taken various measures. This innovation project was taken in
line with that to identify the presence of red hot sinter or hot sinter with potential high
temperature to burn the rubber conveyor belt and actuate an automatic water spraying system
for a pre-set time to cool down the hot sinter.
Considering above incident, it was decided to install the system at Sinter Plant-I of DSP. In
SP-I there are two sintering machines with subsequent individual sinter coolers. From sinter
machinel (or standi) via Sinter Coolerl, sinter falls on conveyor belt 186 and from machine2
(or stand2) via Sinter Cooler2, sinter falls on conveyor belt 187. Sinter of machinel falling on
belt 186 also falls on belt 187 i.e. belt 187 transports sinter from both sinter coolerl & 2.

Therefore, it was decided to install the automatic water cooling system at belt 187 which is
common for transporting sinter of machine 1 & 2 (via individual sinter coolers).



Prior art:
US 5680329 discloses a verification system which will help ensure compliance with water-
based fire protection system testing and maintenance standards and codes set forth by
recognized fire protection authorities. The system comprises at least one sensor for sensing at
least one parameter of one or more water-based fire protection system components pertinent
to code compliance verification, a recorder for recording and date/time stamping data from at
least one sensor, a method for verifying code compliance, and a method for generating a code
compliance verification report based upon the sensor data. The system provides
documentation of "everyday" system conditions and requisite periodic testing will enhance
preparedness and performance of the water-based fire protection systems. The report can be
electronically forwarded to the owner, insurer, or management company at any time, or
automatically forwarded on a scheduled basis for "normal" reporting. In the event of
"trouble" conditions requiring immediate resolution, real-time notification to appropriate
entities can also be accomplished. Though this device is water based cooling system but it is
completely different from said technology as described in this patent i.e. US 5680329. Our
device detects presence of red hot sinter through color/light radiation detector as well as hot
sinter with thermocouple based temperature detector and actuates a water spraying valve for a
pre-set time and gives an alarm signal to control room. There is no 'code compliance

verification, a recorder for recording and date/time stamping data from at least one sensor, a
method for verifying code compliance, and a method for generating a code compliance
verification report based upon the sensor data and the system provides documentation of
"everyday" system conditions and requisite periodic testing will enhance preparedness and
performance of the water-based fire protection systems ' as discussed in the present
invention.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages / drawbacks of the prior
art.
A basic object of the present invention is to provide to an automatic water spraying system
which can identify the presence of red hot sinter or hot sinter which can burn the rubber
conveyor belt and actuate the water sprayer for a pre-set time to cool down the hot sinter.
Another object of the present invention is to identify the presence of red-hot sinter or hot
sinter, which can burn the rubber conveyor belt and actuate an automatic water spraying
system for a pre-set time to cool down the hot sinter. In addition, the detection of hot sinter
and actuation of this water spraying system is acknowledged from control room through an
alarm.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic
understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview
of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the
invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some
concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of
the invention presented later.
According to one of the aspect of the present invention the system is provided an Automatic
Water Spraying System , said system comprising :
a pair of sensor means comprises sensor 1 and sensor 2;
a pair of circuit means operatively connected with said sensor means, said circuit means
comprises circuit 1 and circuit 2;

a processor means operatively connected with said circuit means;
a solenoid valve;
a sprayer means;
a conveyor belt;
wherein circuit 1 operatively connected with sensor 1 and circuit 1 operatively connected
with sensor 2.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those
skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the
annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an Automatic Water Spraying System . the system comprises
a pair of sensor means comprises sensor one and sensor two; a pair of circuit means
operatively connected with said sensor means, said circuit means comprises circuit one and
circuit two; a processor means operatively connected with aid circuit means; a solenoid
valve; a sprayer means and a conveyor belt.
The circuit one operatively connected with sensor one and circuit two operatively connected
with sensor two.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of
the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates the automatic water sprayer system.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for
simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of
some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to
improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict
the same or similar elements, features, and structures
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist
in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by
the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that
understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of
ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the
embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for
clarity and conciseness.
The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the
bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and
consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled
in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention
are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as
defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents
unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a sensor
means", "a processor means", "a processor means" includes reference to one or more of such
surfaces.
By the term "substantially" it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need
not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances,
measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of
skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was
intended to provide.
During designing of the system it was kept in mind that, the hot sinter on conveyor belt is to
be cooled with optimum spraying of water as continuous or excess spraying of water may
deteriorate the quality of sinter.
The developed system can be explained with following simple block diagram (detailed in
Annexure-II):
Where,
Sensor-1: LDR based Red hot sinter detector,
Sensor-2: Thermo-couple based Temperature detector

Ckt-1: Electronic circuit to process 'light signal' from red hot sinter with comparator and
timer
Ckt-2: Electronic circuit to process 'temperature signal' from hot sinter with comparator and
timer
When there is any red hot sinter on belt, sensor-1 gives signal to electronic circuit-1 which
compares it with a pre-set reference value and actuates a relay for a pre-set time through the
inbuilt timer.
In some cases, the sinter on belt may not be red hot but sufficiently hot to burn the belt.
Sensor-2 senses such situation and gives signal to circuit-2 which is a temperature scanner
with high-low output. If temperature crosses a pre-set value it gives 'high' output.
Both the outputs of circuit-1 and circuit-2 are connected/combined through an 'OR Logic' i.e.
a 'high' signal will be generated if any of this two are 'high'. Output of this OR logic is
connected to the Solenoid valve which is actuated if any one or both cases occur at conveyor
belt.
When Solenoid valve actuates, water spraying starts for the pre-set time set in electronic
circuits. Timings for water spraying have been optimized in such a manner that hot sinter will
be cooled avoiding surplus/excess water falling on sinter.
The job was consisted of following major activities:
i)Designing/development of innovative automatic water spraying system
ii) Development and fabrication of electronic circuit to detect red hot sinter with
comparator and timer
iii) Incorporation of temperature scanner in the system to detect hot sinter (which
may not be red but sufficiently hot to burn the conveyor)
iv) Retrofitting of the electronic gadgets (sinter colour and temperature detectors
with comparators & timers) and electrical devices (relays, contactors, power
supply transformers etc. in the panel at SP-I MCC room
v) Installation of sensor holding assemblies and local panel box at site i.e. near
conveyor belt
vi) Laying of cables from MCC room panel to local panel at site
vii) Installation of solenoid valve at site
viii) Threading of different types of pipes, fixing of various plumbing accessories etc.
at WMD workshop

ix) Installation of water pipelines at site
x) Fabrication of water sprayer with nozzles.
xi) Welding jobs for fixing various structural, panel, valves, pipelines and water
sprayer etc.
xii) Connections, terminations and dressings of wires and cables
xiii) Planning, arranging resources and co-ordination to carry out the jobs
xiv) Monitoring plant & personnel safety during various activities
It is worthy to mention that all the resources required for the innovation project were
collected in-house except few items required for electronic circuit. All the activities have
been carried out in addition to their normal duties by the team members. For welding jobs
support from two contractor labours have been taken.
Benefits:
Analysis of 12 months data (Mar' 11 - Feb' 12) shows that, around 668 meter of conveyor belt
has been replaced which involved an expenditure of at least Rs. 33 lakhs.
Moreover, in a single incident of fire in the month of Mar' 11, due to burning of conveyor
belt, sinter production could not be done for 137.5 hours resulting in an opportunity loss of
around Rs.4.3 crores. If such incident occurs few times in a year, we can assume the
financial impact.
So if we can minimize or eliminate this type of accidental transportation of hot sinter through
conveyor belt with installation of this innovative automatic water spraying system, we can
save a considerable amount of revenue.
Thus for this system,
i) Plant runs smoothly
ii) No interruption of production on account of belt burning
iii) Belt change is minimized saving time and money
iv) Employees can discharge hassle free duties
v) Enhancement in plant and employee productivity
vi) A very low cost device to save huge amount of expenditure/revenue
Salient Features of the innovation :

a) During designing of the system it was kept in mind that, the hot sinter on conveyor
belt is to be cooled with optimum spraying of water as excess spraying of water
may deteriorate the quality of sinter. Unique design has eliminated chance of
excess water spraying.
b) Other than Red hot sinter, normal looking hot sinter also may burn the rubber
conveyor. To avoid that, two sensors have been kept to take care of two different
situations.
c) Potential/future prospect:
i) The innovation has the potential of horizontal transfer to any sinter plant
using rubber conveyor system
ii) Device can be used for touch free applications (like auto tap/auto flushing/
auto hand-warmer in bathroom, toilet, hospital, kitchen, public places etc.)
with minor modifications
d) A very low cost device for industrial use, to save crores of revenue.
e) Potential/ prospect of the innovation:
i) The innovation has the potential of horizontal transfer to any sinter
plant using rubber conveyor system
ii) Device can be used for touch free applications (like auto tap/auto
flushing/ auto hand-warmer in bathroom, toilet, hospital, kitchen,
public places etc.) with minor modifications/improvisations.

WE CLAIM:
1. An Automatic Water Spraying System , said system comprising :
a pair of sensor means comprises sensor 1 and sensor 2;
a pair of circuit means operatively connected with said sensor means, said
circuit means comprises circuit 1 and circuit 2;
a processor means operatively connected with said circuit means;
a solenoid valve;
a sprayer means;
a conveyor belt;
wherein circuit 1 operatively connected with sensor 1 and circuit 1 operatively
connected with sensor 2.
2. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sensor 1 comprises LDR based red hot
sinter detector to detect color and light radiation from red hot sinter.
3. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sensor 2 comprises thermo-couple based
temperature detector to detect heat radiation from hot sinter.
4. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said circuit 1 comprises electronic circuit
adapted for processing light signal from red hot sinter having comparator and timer.
5. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said processor means comprises OR logic.
6. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said circuit 2 comprises electronic circuit
adapted for processing temperature signal from red hot sinter having comparator and
timer
7. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said circuit 1 receives signal from sensor 1 and
compares said signal with a pre-set reference value and actuates a relay for a pre-set
time through the inbuilt timer, when there is any red hot sinter on conveyor means.

8. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said Sensor-2 senses situation where the sinter
on belt may not be red hot but sufficiently hot to burn the belt and gives signal to
circuit-2 which is a temperature scanner with high-low output, If temperature crosses
a pre-set value it gives 'high' output.
9. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said circuit-1 and said circuit-2 are
connected/combined through said 'OR Logic' i.e. a 'high' signal will be generated if
any of this two are 'high' to ensure the detection of hot sinter.
10. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said Output of this OR logic is connected to the
Solenoid valve which is actuated if any one or both cases occur at conveyor belt.
11. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein said Solenoid valve actuates and water spraying
starts for the pre-set time set in electronic circuits.
12. An Automatic Water Spraying System as herein substantially described and illustrated
with the accompanying drawings.

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a Low Cost Automatic Water Spraying System comprising a
pair of sensor means- sensor 1 and sensor 2; a pair of circuit- circuit 1 and circuit 2
operatively connected with the sensor means; a processor means operatively connected with
the circuit means; a solenoid valve; a sprayer means; a conveyor belt wherein circuit one
operatively connected with sensor one and circuit two operatively connected with sensor two.