Case Study: Large Refrigerator Terminal, Brazil achieves early fire and ammonia/hydrogen detection with 25% installation savings using Xtralis VESDA ECO

Large Refrigerator Terminal, Brazil - Customer Case Study

A major refrigerated port terminal in Brazil — a 50,000 m2 automated cold storage facility handling tens of thousands of tonnes of reefer cargo — suffered a destructive fire in 2009. Facing reconstruction and the need to prevent future losses, the operator required very early smoke detection plus gas monitoring for ammonia releases from refrigeration systems to protect workers and high-value inventory.

The terminal installed multiple VESDA aspirating smoke detectors (VLP/VLC/VLF) with VESDA ECO gas-monitoring modules (11 ECO units) to provide combined smoke and ammonia/hydrogen detection across the warehouse and battery room. This single-source ASD+gas solution improved coverage and integration with building systems, delivered on-board logging and easier maintenance, and reduced installation cost by more than 25% while significantly boosting safety and situational awareness.