February 12, 2020 in Our Experience
Goulburn Valley Health
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Toyota Australia - Fire Supression System
When you’re manufacturing vehicles for both the local and international markets, and your production processes generate extremely high temperatures, fire protection is paramount. Add that to a multitude of facility types and locations, and thousands of staff, the need for effective fire systems becomes as critical as the facilities themselves.
Over 50 years, Toyota Motor Corporation Australia has grown to be one of the country’s leading automotive companies, manufacturing, distributing and exporting vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands. Its corporate headquarters is located in Port Melbourne, Victoria, with manufacturing operations centred in the nearby suburb of Altona.
The fully integrated Altona manufacturing plant incorporates state-of-the-art foundry, welding, paint and assembly shops to produce cars that have been independently recognised as Australia’s best quality locally built vehicles. Production processes including foundry operations, welding and painting produce particular fire risks, calling for specialist fire systems.
Over a number of years, Walker Fire Protection has carried out various fire protection system projects at the Altona facility – from the large-scale sprinkler and hydrant pipe upgrades within the parts storage warehouse, requiring sophisticated logistics planning, through to more straightforward fire protection and detection systems for office fit-outs.
The 2015 project involved the installation of a specialist water-mist fire suppression system to protect the engine assembly and engine dynamometer testing areas, and the associated fuel supplies.
High-pressure water mist systems produce fine water droplets and react very quickly to suppress fire spread and protect equipment assets. They are particularity suited to highly critical or high-risk facilities. With an operating pressure of 1.5 MPa, the Altona system incorporates a high-pressure diesel and electric pump which feeds a stainless steel piped system serving special design proprietary nozzles. The system also features a rupture disc system to help achieve fast response times.
Walker Fire Protection has also delivered fire protection maintenance services to Toyota Australia’s national facilities portfolio across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory, maintaining, inspecting and testing the numerous fire systems within manufacturing, warehousing and commercial office facilities to ensure ongoing operational readiness and compliance with regulations.
