In 1967 the first commercial scale oil sands processing facility was opened in Fort McMurray, Alberta Canada. Since that time the facility has produced 680 million barrels of oil and has currently has enough reserves to sustain production for another 50 years. The site is expected to expand in the near future and will be producing over 550, 000 barrels per day by the year 2010.


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In order to extract the oil from the 'Tar Sands" enormous electric shovels are used to scoop 100 Tons of oil soaked sand at a time and


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then load it onto dump trucks that are capable of transporting 300 Tons of the mixture to a processing facility.


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At the processing facility the sand is steamed to extract the crude oil, which is then sent through pipelines to National and International markets.

Electricity is brought to the rear of each shovel via a large supply cable which is connected to the facility's own power generating station.


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Because the entire operation is processing the tar sands 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year, having an electric shovel inoperative can create substantial production losses. These electric shovels are virtually custom made, assembled on site, and can cost several million dollars each.

 

Digital linear heat detector manufactured by the Protectowire Co., Inc. was selected due to its ability to survive the tough environmental conditions associated with this application.


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The Protectowire was placed in direct contact with transformer cabinets and switchgear within the electric shovel to provide very early warning of fire or overheat situations. Once a fire is detected, the FireSystems 2000 Series Control Panel is configured to actuate extinguishing systems automatically.

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The Protectowire Co., Inc. is the worldwide leader in the manufacture of Linear Heat Detection Systems which are used by virtually every industry to protect valuable property, processes and equipment from fire.