Monitoring device, control method for monitoring device, and monitoring system

Abstract

To appropriately determine the presence or absence of an object that has a possibility of ignition.SOLUTION: A monitoring device (20) includes: a first calculation unit (32) that calculates a change amount of the temperature per unit time of waste by using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste in a waste processing facility; and a determination unit (33) that determines the presence or absence of an object that has a possibility of ignition included in the waste on the basis of the change amount of the temperature.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a monitoring device for monitoring waste in a waste treatment facility. [Background technology]

[0002] Waste treatment facilities usually carry out two processes: recycling and incineration. In the recycling process, bulky and non-burnable waste is crushed and separated into metals, plastics, combustibles, etc., and post-processing is carried out according to the material. In the incineration process, combustible waste collected from general households and combustibles separated during the recycling process are incinerated.

[0003] In recent years, flammable and hazardous materials have been mixed into waste brought to waste treatment facilities, and these materials are sorted and removed at the waste treatment facilities before being treated. However, it is difficult to completely remove lithium-ion batteries contained in waste such as electrical appliances, and lithium-ion batteries end up being dumped into a pit for waste at recycling facilities.

[0004] As a result, lithium-ion batteries damaged by the stirring of waste stored in the pit by a crane transporting the waste to a transport conveyor, or by crushing by a crusher that crushes the waste transported from the pit, have gone into thermal runaway and exploded or ignited in the pit or on the conveyor. In addition, when lithium-ion batteries are mixed in with combustible waste collected from ordinary households, there have been problems with the lithium-ion batteries causing fires at incineration facilities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to prevent the ignition of waste that may be flammable, such as lithium-ion batteries.

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses a fire prevention device that detects near-infrared rays generated by a fire prevention target in a waste treatment facility before the target ignites with a near-infrared detection means while the surroundings of the fire prevention target are shielded with a shielding means to prevent infrared rays from entering from the outside. Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose technologies for detecting the ignition of crushed waste. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-113213 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2021-053563 A [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2021-045723 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The inventions described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are premised on taking fire prevention measures, such as sprinkling water, each time a heat source is detected. However, just because garbage (waste) is generating heat does not necessarily mean that it will lead to a fire. If it is possible to detect heat sources that may lead to a fire, it is possible to prevent fires from starting. This makes it possible to suppress deterioration of facilities due to sprinkling water and reduce costs associated with firefighting operations.

[0008] An object of one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a monitoring device or the like that can appropriately determine the presence or absence of an object that may potentially ignite. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, a monitoring device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a first calculation unit that calculates an amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste at a waste treatment facility, and a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of an object contained in the waste that may ignite based on the amount of change in temperature.

[0010] In order to solve the above problems, a control method for a monitoring device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a step of calculating the amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste at a waste treatment facility, and a step of determining the presence or absence of any object contained in the waste that may ignite based on the amount of change in temperature.

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, a monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a monitoring system for monitoring waste in a waste treatment facility, and includes a temperature information acquisition device that acquires temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste, and a monitoring device having: (1) a first calculation unit that calculates the amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using the temperature information acquired by the temperature information acquisition device, and (2) a judgment unit that determines the presence or absence of an object contained in the waste that has the potential to ignite, based on the amount of change in temperature. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately determine the presence or absence of an object that may cause a fire. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a waste treatment facility to which a monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the monitoring system. [Diagram 3] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow in the monitoring system. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram conceptually showing the results of fixed-point observation of waste stored in a pit using a thermal camera. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow in the monitoring system. [Figure 7]FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of temperature display images of waste transported by a transport conveyor captured by a thermal camera at multiple points on the transport conveyor. [Figure 9] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow in the monitoring system. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the periphery of a low-speed rotary crusher in a waste treatment facility according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow in the monitoring system. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a view of the periphery of a high-speed rotary crusher in a waste treatment facility according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the upstream to downstream direction in the transport direction of a third transport conveyor. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow in the monitoring system. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the periphery of a high-speed rotary crusher in a waste treatment facility as a modified example of a waste treatment facility according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the upstream to downstream direction in the transport direction of a third transport conveyor. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the vicinity of the most downstream part of a third transport conveyor in a waste treatment facility according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] [Embodiment 1] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail. A monitoring system 100 in this embodiment is a system for monitoring waste in a waste treatment facility 50.

[0015] (Internal configuration of waste treatment facility 50) Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a waste treatment facility 50 to which the monitoring system 100 is applied. Fig. 1 illustrates an area in the waste treatment facility 50 where recycling processing is performed. In Fig. 1, arrows indicate the route along which waste 61 is transported. As shown in Fig. 1, the waste treatment facility 50 includes a waste receiving space 51, a pit 52, a crane 53, a first transport conveyor 54, a low-speed rotary crusher 55, a second transport conveyor 56, a high-speed rotary crusher 57, a third transport conveyor 58, a water sprinkler 59, and a sprayer 60.

[0016] The waste receiving space 51 is a space for sorting collected waste. The pit 52 is a storage space for temporarily storing the waste 61 input from the waste receiving space 51.

[0017] The crane 53 is a type of transport device that transports the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 to the first transport conveyor 54. The waste 61 transported by the crane 53 is transported by the first transport conveyor 54 to the low-speed rotary crusher 55. The crane 53 also functions as a removal device that removes objects that may be ignitable.

[0018] The low-speed rotary crusher 55 crushes the waste 61 by shearing action between a rotary blade rotating at a low speed and a fixed blade or multiple rotary blades. The crushed material crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 is transported to the high-speed rotary crusher 57 by the second transport conveyor 56.

[0019] The high-speed rotary crusher 57 has a hammer-shaped member attached to the rotor, and crushes the waste transported by the second transport conveyor 56 by impact, shearing, or grinding action between the hammer-shaped member and a collision plate or bar fixed to the casing. The crushed material produced by the high-speed rotary crusher 57 is transported by the third transport conveyor 58 to a particle size sorter 64 (see Figure 16) which sorts the waste.

[0020] The sprinkler device 59 is a device that sprinkles water on the waste 61 stored or transported in the waste treatment facility 50. A plurality of sprinkler devices 59 are provided for each of the pit 52, the first transport conveyor 54, the second transport conveyor 56, and the third transport conveyor 58.

[0021] The sprayer 60 sprays liquid at a location where dust may be generated due to the crushing of the waste 61 by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 or the high-speed rotary crusher 57. As shown in FIG. 1, the sprayer 60 is provided at a location where the crushed material crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 is discharged and at a location where the crushed material crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57 is discharged. By providing the sprayer 60, dust generated by the crushing of the waste 61 by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 or the high-speed rotary crusher 57 can be dropped. As a result, the effect of dust on the imaging by the thermo camera 10 described later can be reduced.

[0022] (Configuration of monitoring system 100) The monitoring system 100 in this embodiment performs fixed-point observation of the waste 61 that is not moving, and determines whether or not there is an object contained in the waste 61 that may potentially ignite. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the monitoring system 100 determines whether or not there is an object contained in the waste 61 in the pit 52 that may potentially ignite. Objects to be monitored by the monitoring system 100 include, for example, lithium ion batteries, objects containing lithium ion batteries (for example, heated cigarettes or mobile batteries), and large-capacity capacitors such as supercapacitors. Types of lithium ion batteries include, for example, button batteries (CR2016, CR2018, etc.), cylindrical batteries (18650 type, 26650 type, etc.), and laminated batteries.

[0023] 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the monitoring system 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring system 100 includes a thermo camera 10 and a monitoring device 20.

[0024] The thermo camera 10 is an example of a temperature information acquisition device that acquires information indicating the temperature of the waste 61, and is a non-contact thermometer that measures the temperature of an object without contact. In the following description, "information indicating the temperature of the waste 61" may be referred to as "temperature information of the waste 61". In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of thermo cameras 10 are provided along the route along which the waste 61 is transported in the waste treatment facility 50. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the thermo camera 10 installed above the pit 52 will be referred to as the thermo camera 10A. The thermo camera 10A acquires temperature information of the waste 61 stored in the pit 52. By using the thermo camera 10, it is possible to detect objects that generate self-heating, which is difficult to detect with a near-infrared camera. In addition, a near-infrared camera requires a light-emitting unit for shooting, and may not function well due to the processing environment of the waste treatment facility (dust, moisture, powder, etc.), the equipment condition (shape of the conveyor, etc.), or the processing shape of the waste (for example, stacked shape, etc.), but the thermo camera 10 does not have such problems. As a temperature information acquisition device, whether to use a camera that detects and visualizes far-infrared rays (hereinafter referred to as a thermo camera) or a camera that detects and visualizes near-infrared rays (hereinafter referred to as a near-infrared camera) can be selected appropriately by changing the shooting conditions depending on the usage situation of the temperature acquisition device.

[0025] The thermo camera 10 outputs a temperature display image showing the temperature at each point within the imaging range as a two-dimensional image as temperature information to the monitoring device 20. The temperature information output by the thermo camera 10 only needs to show the temperature measurement position and the temperature at the measurement position, and does not have to be output as an image.

[0026] The thermo camera 10 is preferably configured so that the area captured by one pixel is 9 mm x 9 mm or less so that it can detect small waste such as heated cigarettes, mobile batteries, etc. When the thermo camera 10 is installed relative to a transport conveyor, the frame rate of the thermo camera 10 is appropriately adjusted in consideration of the transport speed of the transport conveyor and the field of view width of the thermo camera 10.

[0027] The monitoring device 20 is a device that monitors the state of waste in a waste treatment facility 50. The monitoring device 20 includes a main control unit 30 and a storage unit 40, as shown in FIG.

[0028] The main control unit 30 is a functional block that controls each unit of the monitoring device 20. The main control unit 30 includes an identifying unit 31, a first calculating unit 32, a determining unit 33, and a control unit .

[0029] The identification unit 31 identifies waste to be monitored by analyzing the temperature information output from the thermal camera 10. Specifically, the identification unit 31 identifies an object whose temperature is abnormally above a predetermined temperature (for example, 50°C or higher) from the temperature information. Hereinafter, the object identified by the identification unit 31 will be referred to as a waste of interest. When the identification unit 31 identifies multiple wastes as wastes of interest, it assigns an identifier to each waste of interest to distinguish them.

[0030] The first calculation section 32 uses the temperature information output from the thermal camera 10 to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest identified by the identification section 31.

[0031] The determination unit 33 determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite, contained in the waste 61 stored in the pit 52, based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest calculated by the first calculation unit 32. A specific method of determination by the determination unit 33 will be described later.

[0032] The control unit 34 performs a predetermined process when the determination unit 33 determines that there is an object that may cause a fire among the waste 61 stored in the pit 52. For example, the control unit 34 may perform a process to remove the object that the determination unit 33 determines to have the potential to cause a fire from the pit 52. In this case, for example, the control unit 34 may instruct the crane 53 to remove the object to be removed by the target waste.

[0033] As another example, the control unit 34 may perform a water sprinkling process to sprinkle water on an object that the determination unit 33 has determined to have the potential to ignite. In this case, specifically, the control unit 34 may instruct the water sprinkler 59 arranged above the pit 52 to sprinkle water on the waste of interest. As another example, the control unit 34 may perform a sprinkling process to sprinkle a liquid other than water on an object that the determination unit 33 has determined to have the potential to ignite. The liquid may be, for example, a chemical (e.g., a fire extinguishing liquid) that has the effect of rendering ignitable materials harmless or that has the effect of suppressing the possibility of ignition.

[0034] The storage unit 40 records (1) the control programs of each unit, (2) the OS program, (3) the application programs, and (4) various data read when executing these programs, which are executed by the main control unit 30. The storage unit 40 is composed of a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk or a flash memory. Temperature information obtained from the thermal camera 10 may be stored in the storage unit 40 for use by each functional block of the main control unit 30.

[0035] (An example of processing flow) An example of the process flow in the monitoring system 100 will be described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the process flow in the monitoring system 100. Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the results of fixed-point observation of waste stored in the pit 52 with a thermo camera. The diagram indicated by reference numeral 400 in Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the appearance of the waste stored in the pit 52. The diagrams indicated by reference numerals 401 to 403 are conceptual diagrams showing examples of temperature display images.

[0036] In this example, a lithium ion battery or an object including a lithium ion battery will be described. Here, a lithium ion battery may ignite instantly due to impact such as crushing, causing a fire in a waste disposal facility. When a fire occurs in a waste disposal facility, effects such as damage from the flame, deterioration of the device due to fire-extinguishing water (for example, rust generation, deterioration of the belt material), and consumption of resources (people, time, things) for fire-extinguishing response occur. When a fire occurs in a waste disposal facility, fire-extinguishing work is performed and the amount of waste processed decreases, so the waste is processed on the next day or overtime work is performed, and processing costs increase. In addition to cases where a lithium ion battery ignites instantly due to impact, it may ignite after a certain amount of time has passed since an impact such as crushing is applied. In such cases, damage increases, such as when a lithium ion battery ignites when unmanned in a waste disposal facility, causing a fire and delaying fire-extinguishing response, or when a lithium ion battery ignites during incineration processing containing a large amount of combustible material. A case where a fire occurs after a certain amount of time has passed since an impact is applied will be described in more detail. When a lithium-ion battery is heated to 80°C or higher, the electrolyte reacts with the negative electrode, causing self-heating. When the temperature of a lithium-ion battery is heated to 120°C or higher, the battery may go into thermal runaway, triggered by a separator meltdown, and catch fire. Therefore, before the temperature rises above 120°C due to self-heating and causes thermal runaway, it is necessary to cool the self-heated lithium-ion battery or remove the self-heated lithium-ion battery from the waste. When a lithium-ion battery is self-heating, it will not ignite and a flame detector cannot detect it. When a lithium-ion battery is heating up without emitting smoke, it cannot be detected by a smoke detector.

[0037] In this example, an example is described in which it is determined whether or not there is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated contained in waste 61 in pit 52, and if a lithium ion battery that has self-heated is present, the lithium ion battery is removed or sprayed with water.

[0038] In the process of the monitoring system 100, first, the identification unit 31 acquires a temperature display image of the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 from the thermo camera 10A (step S1). In the following description, this time is referred to as time t1. The identification unit 31 analyzes the acquired temperature display image to determine whether an object with a temperature of 120°C or higher is present in the pit 52 (step S2).

[0039] If there is no object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher (NO in step S2), the identification unit 31 analyzes the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A to determine whether there is an object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher in the pit 52 (step S3). If there is no object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher (NO in step S3), the process returns to step S1.

[0040] On the other hand, if an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present (YES in step S3), the identification unit 31 identifies the object as a waste of interest and acquires the temperature T1 of the waste of interest at time t1. When calculating the temperature T1, the temperature measured by the thermal camera 10 may be corrected based on the distance between the thermal camera 10 and the waste 61 (more specifically, the surface layer of the waste 61) measured by a distance measuring device (not shown).

[0041] Next, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the identifying unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S4). In the following description, this time is referred to as time t2. It is known that a lithium ion battery experiences a temperature rise of 5 to 10°C per second before thermal runaway occurs. Therefore, depending on the temperature resolution of the thermo camera 10A, the above-mentioned predetermined time may be set to, for example, 1 to 30 seconds in order to detect a temperature change using the thermo camera 10A. The identifying unit 31 acquires the temperature T2 of the waste of interest at time t2 from the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A.

[0042] Next, the first calculation section 32 calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the target waste (step S5). The amount of temperature change per unit time is calculated by performing the calculation (T2-T1) / (t2-t1).

[0043] The diagram indicated by reference numeral 401 in Fig. 4 conceptually shows a temperature display image at time t1, and the diagram indicated by reference numeral 402 in Fig. 4 conceptually shows a temperature display image at time t2. In the example shown in Fig. 4, the temperature of the waste of interest is higher at time t2 than at time t1. Assuming that a temperature distribution may occur in one waste of interest, the average temperature of the waste of interest at time t1 and time t2 may be used, or the maximum temperature of the waste of interest may be used.

[0044] Next, the determination unit 33 determines whether the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest calculated by the first calculation unit 32 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (in this example, equal to or greater than 0.1°C / sec) (step S6). If the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is less than 0.1°C / sec (NO in step S6), the determination unit 33 determines that the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 does not contain any object that may ignite, and returns to step S1. Here, when the temperature of a lithium ion battery reaches 80°C or higher, the electrolyte reacts with the negative electrode, causing self-heating, and the temperature gradually increases. Specifically, it is known that the temperature rises by about 40°C per 10 minutes at 80°C or higher. Therefore, by setting 0.1°C / sec as an example of the above-mentioned predetermined value, it is possible to detect a lithium ion battery that has self-heated.

[0045] On the other hand, if the temperature change rate of the noted waste per unit time is 0.1° C. / sec or more (YES in step S6), it is considered that the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 contains lithium ion batteries that have generated self-heating and may ignite, so the determination unit 33 performs a process to remove the noted waste from the pit 52 (step S7). In this case, for example, the determination unit 33 may remove the noted waste from the pit 52 by issuing an instruction to the crane 53 to remove objects that may ignite from the pit 52. This makes it possible to prevent a fire caused by the ignition of lithium ion batteries. Once removal of the noted waste is complete, the process returns to step S1.

[0046] Returning to step S2, if there is an object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher in the pit 52 (YES in step S2), there is a very high possibility of a fire breaking out, so the monitoring system 100 stops waste disposal (step S8). After that, the control unit 34 instructs the sprinkler device 59 capable of sprinkling water in the area where the object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher is present to perform a sprinkling process (step S9).

[0047] When the water sprinkling process is started, the identification unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S10). The identification unit 31 analyzes the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A to determine whether an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present in the pit 52 (step S11). If an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present in the pit 52 (YES in step S11), the process returns to step S10. On the other hand, as shown in the diagram indicated by reference numeral 403 in FIG. 4, if an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is not present in the pit 52 (NO in step S11), the water sprinkling process is stopped (step S12).

[0048] After performing the water sprinkling process, the monitoring device 20 again determines whether or not there is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated. Specifically, after a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed since the water sprinkling process was stopped, the identification unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S13). In the following description, this time will be referred to as time t3. The identification unit 31 analyzes the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A to determine whether or not there is an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher in the pit 52 (step S14). If there is no object with a temperature of 50°C or higher (NO in step S14), the waste disposal is resumed (step S15) and the process returns to step S1.

[0049] On the other hand, if an object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher is present (YES in step S14), the identification unit 31 identifies the object as the waste of interest, and acquires the temperature T3 of the waste of interest at time t3.

[0050] Next, after a predetermined time (e.g., 10 seconds) has elapsed, the identification unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S16). In the following description, this time is referred to as time t4. The identification unit 31 acquires the temperature T4 of the target waste at time t4 from the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A.

[0051] Next, the first calculation section 32 calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the target waste (step S17). The amount of temperature change per unit time is calculated by performing the calculation (T4-T3) / (t4-t3).

[0052] Next, the determination unit 33 determines whether the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest calculated by the first calculation unit 32 is 0.1° C. / sec or more (step S18). If the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is less than 0.1° C. / sec (NO in step S18), the determination unit 33 determines that there is no object that may ignite among the waste 61 stored in the pit 52, resumes waste treatment (step S15), and returns to step S1.

[0053] On the other hand, if the temperature change rate of the waste of interest per unit time is 0.1°C / sec or more (YES in step S18), the determination unit 33 determines that the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 contains a lithium ion battery that has self-heated, and returns to step S4 to perform water sprinkling treatment. Note that if the temperature change rate of the waste of interest per unit time is 0.1°C / sec or more, instead of water sprinkling treatment, a process to remove the waste of interest may be performed as in step S7.

[0054] In the example shown in FIG. 3, when an object that may cause a fire is detected, the object that may cause a fire is removed from the pit 52 using the crane 53 to prevent the occurrence of a fire. However, the monitoring system 100 of the present disclosure is not limited to this. In the monitoring system 100 of one aspect of the present disclosure, when an object that may cause a fire is detected, a process of sprinkling water on the object using the water sprinkler 59 may be performed. In this way, when the object that may cause a fire is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated, the temperature of the lithium ion battery can be lowered to prevent the lithium ion battery from igniting. In other words, a fire caused by the ignition of the lithium ion battery can be prevented. In addition, when the lithium ion battery ignites due to the direct application of an external force by the crane 53, or when the lithium ion battery ignites before the battery is collected by the crane 53, the water sprinkling process is performed with priority. In addition, the monitoring system 100 may be operated in combination with a flame detector (not shown) and a monitoring camera (not shown) for monitoring the occurrence of a flame, which are installed in the pit 52.

[0055] Here, it is conceivable to detect lithium ion batteries contained in pit 52 by measuring the temperature of the waste contained in pit 52. However, simply measuring the temperature may result in the detection of waste that does not ignite because its temperature has risen due to friction, for example, and this may lead to unnecessary fire prevention measures being taken.

[0056] In contrast, the monitoring device 20 in this embodiment includes a first calculation unit 32 that calculates the amount of change in temperature of the waste 61 per unit time using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste 61 in the waste treatment facility 50, and a determination unit 33 that determines the presence or absence of an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61 based on the calculated amount of change in temperature. This allows the determination unit 33 to determine the presence or absence of an object that may ignite based on the amount of change in temperature of the waste 61 per unit time. Specifically, the determination unit 33 can determine that an object that may ignite exists when the amount of change in temperature of the waste 61 per unit time is increasing. This allows the determination of the presence or absence of an object that may ignite, i.e., a lithium ion battery that has self-heated, to be appropriately performed.

[0057] Furthermore, the monitoring device 20 in this embodiment includes a control unit 34 that performs a predetermined process when the determination unit 33 determines that an object that may ignite is present. According to this configuration, when an object that may ignite is present, the control unit 34 performs a predetermined process, such as, for example, sprinkling water on the object that may ignite or removing waste that is generating heat. This allows the predetermined process to be performed at an appropriate time.

[0058] Furthermore, in the monitoring device 20 of this embodiment, the determination unit 33 determines again the presence or absence of an object that may potentially ignite after the control unit 34 performs a water sprinkling process, thereby making it possible to determine the effect of the water sprinkling.

[0059] [Embodiment 2] Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below. For ease of explanation, the same reference numerals are given to components having the same functions as those described in the above embodiment, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

[0060] Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system 200 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 5, the monitoring system 200 differs from the monitoring system 100 according to the first embodiment in that the main control unit 30 of the monitoring device 20 includes a second calculation unit 35 and a determination unit 33A instead of the determination unit 33 in the first embodiment.

[0061] The second calculation section 35 uses the temperature information output from the thermal camera 10 to calculate the amount of change in temperature distribution in the waste of interest identified by the identification section 31.

[0062] The determination unit 33A determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite, contained in the waste 61 stored in the pit 52, based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest calculated by the first calculation unit 32 and the amount of change in temperature distribution in the waste of interest calculated by the second calculation unit 35. A specific method of determination by the determination unit 33A will be described later.

[0063] (An example of processing flow) An example of the process flow in the monitoring system 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the process flow in the monitoring system 200. In the following description, steps similar to those in the first embodiment will be omitted or simplified.

[0064] In the process of the monitoring system 200, first, the identification unit 31 acquires a temperature display image of the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 from the thermo camera 10A (step S1). In the following description, this time is referred to as time t1. The identification unit 31 analyzes the acquired temperature display image to determine whether an object with a temperature of 120°C or higher is present in the pit 52 (step S2). If an object with a temperature of 120°C or higher is present (YES in step S2), the monitoring system 200 stops the operation of the crane 53, for example, to stop waste treatment (step S8). Thereafter, the control unit 34 instructs the sprinkler device 59 to perform a water sprinkling process (step S9).

[0065] On the other hand, if there is no object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher (NO in step S2), the identification unit 31 analyzes the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A to determine whether there is an object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher in the pit 52 (step S3). If there is no object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher (NO in step S3), the process returns to step S1.

[0066] On the other hand, if an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present (YES in step S3), the identification unit 31 identifies the object as a waste of interest and acquires the temperature T1 of the waste of interest at time t1. The identification unit 31 also calculates the area S(t1) of the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher in the temperature display image acquired from the thermal camera 10A at time t1.

[0067] Next, after a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed, the identification unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S4). In the following description, this time will be referred to as time t2. The identification unit 31 acquires a temperature T2 of the target waste at time t2 from the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A. The identification unit 31 also calculates the area S(t2) of the area of ​​the target waste that is 50°C or higher in the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A at time t2.

[0068] Next, the first calculation unit 32 calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest (step S5). Also, the second calculation unit 35 calculates the amount of change in temperature distribution of the waste of interest (step S31). Specifically, the second calculation unit 35 calculates the amount of change in the area of ​​the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher at time t1 by subtracting the area S(t1) of the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher at time t1 from the area S(t2) of the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher at time t2, thereby calculating the amount of change in the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher.

[0069] Next, the determination unit 33A determines whether the temperature change per unit time of the noted waste calculated by the first calculation unit 32 is 0.1°C / sec or more (step S6). If the temperature change per unit time of the noted waste is 0.1°C / sec or more (YES in step S6), the determination unit 33 determines that there is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated, and performs a process to remove the noted waste from the pit 52 (step S7). When removal of the noted waste is completed, the process returns to step S1.

[0070] On the other hand, if the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is less than 0.1°C / sec (NO in step S6), the determination unit 33 determines whether the amount of change in the area of ​​the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher calculated by the second calculation unit 35 is greater than 0, i.e., whether the area of ​​the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher has increased (step S32). If the amount of change in the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher is 0 or less (NO in step S32), the determination unit 33 determines that there is no object that may ignite in the waste 61 stored in the pit 52, and returns to step S1.

[0071] On the other hand, if the change in the area of ​​the area of ​​the noted waste that is 50°C or higher is greater than 0 (YES in step S32), the determination unit 33 determines that a lithium ion battery that has self-heated is buried inside the waste 61, not on the surface, and performs a process to remove the noted waste from the pit 52 (step S33). When removal of the noted waste is complete, the process returns to step S1.

[0072] If the identifying unit 31 determines in step S2 that an object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher exists in the pit 52, steps S10 to S12 described in the first embodiment are performed. After performing the water sprinkling process, the monitoring system 200 again determines whether or not there is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated. Specifically, after a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed since the water sprinkling process was stopped, the identifying unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S13). In the following description, this time is referred to as time t3. The identifying unit 31 analyzes the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A to determine whether or not an object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher exists in the pit 52 (step S14). If no object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher exists (NO in step S14), waste disposal is resumed (step S15) and the process returns to step S1.

[0073] On the other hand, if an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present (YES in step S14), the identification unit 31 identifies the object as a waste of interest and acquires the temperature T3 of the waste of interest at time t3. The identification unit 31 also calculates the area S(t3) of the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher in the temperature display image acquired from the thermal camera 10A at time t3.

[0074] Next, after a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed, the identification unit 31 again acquires a temperature display image from the thermo camera 10A (step S16). In the following description, this time will be referred to as time t4. The identification unit 31 acquires a temperature T4 of the target waste at time t4 from the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A. The identification unit 31 also calculates the area S(t4) of the area of ​​the target waste that is 50°C or higher in the temperature display image acquired from the thermo camera 10A at time t4.

[0075] Next, the first calculation unit 32 calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest (step S17). Also, the second calculation unit 35 calculates the amount of change in temperature distribution of the waste of interest (step S34). Specifically, the second calculation unit 35 calculates the amount of change in the area of ​​the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher at time t3 by subtracting the area S(t3) of the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher at time t3 from the area S(t4) of the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher at time t4, thereby calculating the amount of change in the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher.

[0076] Next, the determination unit 33 determines whether the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest calculated by the first calculation unit 32 is 0.1°C / sec or more (step S18). If the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is 0.1°C / sec or more (YES in step S18), the determination unit 33 determines that the waste 61 stored in the pit 52 contains a lithium ion battery that has self-heated, and returns to step S9 to perform water sprinkling treatment. Note that if the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is 0.1°C / sec or more, instead of water sprinkling treatment, a process to remove the waste of interest may be performed as in step S7.

[0077] On the other hand, if the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is less than 0.1°C / sec (NO in step S18), the determination unit 33 determines whether the amount of change in the area of ​​the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher calculated by the second calculation unit 35 is greater than 0, i.e., whether the area of ​​the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher has increased (step S35). If the amount of change in the area of ​​the waste of interest that is 50°C or higher is 0 or less (NO in step S35), the determination unit 33 determines that there is no object that may ignite in the waste 61 stored in the pit 52, and resumes waste treatment (step S15), and returns to step S1.

[0078] On the other hand, if the amount of change in the area of ​​the noted waste that is 50°C or higher is greater than 0 (YES in step S35), it is believed that a lithium ion battery that has self-heated is buried inside the waste 61, so the process returns to step S9 and water sprinkling processing is performed. Note that if the amount of change in the area of ​​the noted waste that is 50°C or higher is greater than 0, instead of water sprinkling processing, processing to remove the noted waste may be performed as in step S7.

[0079] As described above, the monitoring device 20 in this embodiment further includes the second calculation unit 35 that calculates the amount of change in temperature distribution in the waste 61 using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste 61 in the waste treatment facility 50, in addition to the configuration of the monitoring device 20 in the first embodiment, and the determination unit 33A determines the presence or absence of an object that may ignite based on the amount of change in temperature calculated by the first calculation unit 32 and the amount of change in temperature distribution calculated by the second calculation unit 35. This improves the accuracy of determining the presence or absence of an object that may ignite. As a result, it is possible to more accurately determine the need to take measures to prevent fires in the waste 61.

[0080] [Embodiment 3] Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the first and second embodiments, a configuration has been described in which stationary waste 61 is monitored at fixed points to determine whether or not there is an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61. In contrast, the monitoring system 300 in this embodiment determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61 being transported by the first transport conveyor 54, the second transport conveyor 56, or the third transport conveyor 58.

[0081] Hereinafter, as an example, a configuration will be described in which two thermo cameras 10 provided for the first conveyor 54 are used to determine the presence or absence of an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61 being conveyed by the first conveyor 54. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG. 1, two thermo cameras 10 are provided for the first conveyor 54, namely, a thermo camera 10B and a thermo camera 10C located downstream of the thermo camera 10B on the first conveyor 54. However, the number of thermo cameras 10 provided for the first conveyor 54 is not limited to two, and may be three or more. The thermo cameras 10B and 10C function as detection units that detect heating elements at multiple detection points on the first conveyor 54. In the following description, the point where the heating element is detected by the thermo camera 10B is referred to as the first detection point, and the point where the heating element is detected by the thermo camera 10C is referred to as the second detection point.

[0082] Fig. 7 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system 300 in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 7, the monitoring system 300 includes a thermo camera 10B and a thermo camera 10C instead of the thermo camera 10A of the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment. The monitoring system 300 also differs from the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment in that the main control unit 30 of the monitoring device 20 includes an identification unit 31A, a first calculation unit 32A, and a determination unit 33B instead of the identification unit 31, the first calculation unit 32, and the determination unit 33 in the first embodiment.

[0083] The identification unit 31A acquires temperature information output from the thermo camera 10B and the thermo camera 10C. Based on the acquired information, the identification unit 31A identifies a correspondence between at least one heat generating element at the first detection location and at least one heat generating element that is part of a collection of waste at the second detection location.

[0084] An example of a method for identifying the correspondence relationship by the identifying unit 31A will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature display image of waste transported by a transport conveyor captured by a thermo camera 10 at multiple points on the transport conveyor. In the diagram shown in FIG. 8, an area with a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature is displayed whiter than the surrounding waste. The diagram shown by reference numeral 801 in FIG. 8 is a temperature display image captured by the thermo camera 10B at the first detection point at time t1, and the diagram shown by reference numeral 802 is a temperature display image captured by the thermo camera 10C at the second detection point at time t2. Time t2 is the time when most of the waste 61 that was present at the first detection point at time t1 is transported to the second detection point. That is, the temperature display image shown by reference numeral 802 shows most of the waste that was captured in the temperature display image captured by the thermo camera 10B at time t1.

[0085] Thermo cameras 10B and 10C detect heating elements whose temperatures are equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature in the captured temperature display images. In the example shown in Fig. 8, thermo camera 10B detects heating element A in the temperature display image captured at time t1, indicated by reference numeral 801, and thermo camera 10C detects heating elements B and C in the temperature display image captured at time t2, indicated by reference numeral 802.

[0086] The identification unit 31A acquires the temperature display image and the detection information of the heating element from the thermo camera 10B or the thermo camera 10C. The identification unit 31A identifies the position of the heating element in the left-right direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor for each of the heating elements detected by the thermo camera 10B and the thermo camera 10C, and identifies heating elements that are in the same or almost the same position in the left-right direction as the same heating element. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the heating element A shown in the temperature display image indicated by the reference numeral 801 and the heating element B shown in the temperature display image indicated by the reference numeral 802 are almost in the same position in the left-right direction, so the identification unit 31A identifies the heating element A and the heating element B as the same heating element. On the other hand, as for the heating element C, since the heating element C is not shown in the temperature display image indicated by the reference numeral 801 at the same position in the left-right direction, it is a heating element that generated heat between time t1 and time t2, and the identification unit 31A does not identify the correspondence relationship for the heating element C. As another example, the identification unit 31A may identify the correspondence between the heat generating elements detected by the thermo camera 10B and the thermo camera 10C based on the distance between the location imaged by the thermo camera 10B and the location imaged by the thermo camera 10C, and the conveying speed of the first conveying conveyor 54.

[0087] The first calculation unit 32A has a function of calculating the amount of temperature change per unit time of the heat generating element that the identification unit 31A has identified as having the same correspondence relationship, using the temperature information output from the thermo camera 10B and the thermo camera 10C.

[0088] The determination unit 33B determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite, contained in the waste 61 being transported by the first transport conveyor 54, based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the heating element calculated by the first calculation unit 32. A specific method of determination by the determination unit 33B will be described later.

[0089] (An example of processing flow) An example of the flow of processing in the monitoring system 300 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing in the monitoring system 300.

[0090] In the processing in the monitoring system 300, first, the identification unit 31A acquires, from the thermo camera 10B, the following temperature information: (1) a temperature display image (hereinafter referred to as the first temperature display image) of the waste 61 captured at a first detection point on the first transport conveyor 54 at time t1, and detection information of a heat-generating body having a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature (in this example, 50°C) in the first temperature display image (step S41).

[0091] The identification unit 31A analyzes the acquired temperature information to determine whether an object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher is present at the first detection location (step S42). If an object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher is present (YES in step S42), there is a very high possibility of a fire breaking out, so the control unit 34 stops the first transport conveyor 54 (step S43) and instructs the sprinkler device 59 capable of sprinkling water in the area where the object with a temperature of 120° C. or higher is present to perform a sprinkling process (step S44).

[0092] On the other hand, if there is no object with a temperature of 120°C or higher (NO in step S42), the identification unit 31A acquires, as temperature information from the thermo camera 10C, (1) a temperature display image (hereinafter referred to as a second temperature display image) of the waste 61 captured at time t2 at the second detection point of the first transport conveyor 54, and detection information of the heating element in the second temperature display image (step S45). Time t2 is the time when most of the waste 61 that was present at the first detection point at time t1 is transported to the second detection point.

[0093] Next, the identification unit 31A identifies the correspondence between the heating element in the first temperature display image captured by the thermo camera 10B at time t1 and the heating element in the second temperature display image captured by the thermo camera 10C at time t2, and identifies whether or not there is a correspondence between the heating element in the first temperature display image and the heating element in the second temperature display image (step S46).If the identification unit 31A identifies that there is no correspondence between the heating element in the first temperature display image and the heating element in the second temperature display image (NO in step S46), the process returns to step S41.

[0094] On the other hand, when the identification unit 31A identifies that the heating element in the first temperature display image and the heating element in the second temperature display image correspond to the same heating element (YES in step S46), the first calculation unit 32A calculates the temperature change amount per unit time of the heating element (hereinafter referred to as the heating element of interest) (step S47). The temperature change amount per unit time of the heating element of interest is calculated by performing a calculation of (T2-T1) / (t2-t1) using the temperature T1 of the heating element of interest at time t1 and the temperature T2 of the heating element of interest at time t2.

[0095] Next, the judgment unit 33B judges whether the temperature change rate per unit time of the target heat generating element is 0.1° C. / sec or more (step S48). If the temperature change rate per unit time of the target waste is less than 0.1° C. / sec (NO in step S48), the process returns to step S41.

[0096] On the other hand, if the temperature change rate of the heat generating element of interest per unit time is 0.1° C. / sec or more (YES in step S48), the heat generating element of interest may be a lithium ion battery that has self-heated, so the control unit 34 stops the first transport conveyor 54 (step S43) and instructs the water sprinkler 59 capable of sprinkling water in the area where the heat generating element of interest is present to perform water sprinkling processing (step S44). This makes it possible to lower the temperature of the lithium ion battery and prevent the lithium ion battery from catching fire. In other words, it is possible to prevent a fire caused by the ignition of a lithium ion battery.

[0097] In addition, in step S46, if the identification unit 31A identifies multiple pairs of correspondences between the same heating elements in the first temperature display image and the heating elements in the second temperature display image, the amount of temperature change per unit time can be calculated for each of the multiple heating elements.

[0098] When the water sprinkling process is started, the identification unit 31A again acquires temperature information from the thermo camera 10C (step S49). The identification unit 31A analyzes the temperature information acquired from the thermo camera 10C to determine whether an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present at the second detection location (step S50). If an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present at the second detection location (YES in step S50), the process returns to step S49. On the other hand, if an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is not present at the second detection location (NO in step S50), the control unit 34 stops the water sprinkling process (step S51).

[0099] After performing the water sprinkling process, the monitoring system 300 again determines whether or not there is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated. Specifically, after a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed since the water sprinkling process was stopped, the identification unit 31A again acquires temperature information from the thermo camera 10C (step S52). In the following description, this time is referred to as time t3. The identification unit 31A analyzes the temperature information acquired from the thermo camera 10C to determine whether or not an object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present at the second detection location (step S53). If no object with a temperature of 50°C or higher is present (NO in step S53), the first transport conveyor 54 is operated (step S54) and the process returns to step S41.

[0100] On the other hand, if an object with a temperature of 50° C. or higher is present at the second detection location (YES in step S53), the identification unit 31A identifies the object as the waste of interest, and acquires the temperature T3 of the waste of interest at time t3.

[0101] Next, after a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed, the identification unit 31A again acquires temperature information from the thermo camera 10C (step S55). In the following description, this time will be referred to as time t4. The identification unit 31A acquires the temperature T4 of the waste of interest at time t4 from the temperature information acquired from the thermo camera 10C.

[0102] Next, the first calculation section 32A calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the target waste (step S56). The amount of temperature change per unit time is calculated by performing the calculation (T4-T3) / (t4-t3).

[0103] Next, the determination unit 33A determines whether the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest calculated by the first calculation unit 32A is 0.1°C / sec or more (step S57). If the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is less than 0.1°C / sec (NO in step S57), the determination unit 33 determines that there is no object at the second detection point that may cause fire, and the control unit 34 operates the first transport conveyor 54 (step S54), and the process returns to step S41.

[0104] On the other hand, if the temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest is 0.1°C / sec or more (YES in step S17), the judgment unit 33A determines that there is a lithium ion battery that has self-heated at the second detection point, and the process returns to step S44, where the control unit 34 instructs the sprinkler device 59 to perform a water sprinkling process.

[0105] In the present embodiment, the configuration in which two thermo cameras 10 (thermal camera 10A and thermo camera 10B) are provided for the first transport conveyor 54 has been described, but the monitoring system of the present disclosure is not limited to this. In the monitoring system 300 of one aspect of the present disclosure, three or more thermo cameras 10 may be provided for the first transport conveyor 54. In this case, the above processing may be performed using any two thermo cameras 10. Also, as described above, it is known that the temperature of a lithium ion battery rises by 5 to 10°C per second before thermal runaway occurs. Therefore, when multiple thermo cameras 10 are installed, it is preferable to adjust the number of thermo cameras 10 installed and the installation interval according to the transport speed of the transport conveyor so that the same waste can be photographed every 10 to 30 seconds, for example.

[0106] Here, it is conceivable to detect lithium-ion batteries contained in waste by measuring the temperature of the waste being transported by the transport conveyor. However, simply measuring the temperature makes it impossible to distinguish between heat generated by friction caused by the shear stress applied by the crusher and heat generated by the self-heating, and there is a risk of unnecessary fire prevention measures being taken.

[0107] In contrast, the monitoring device 20 in this embodiment can detect self-heating lithium ion batteries that have become mixed in with waste being transported by a transport conveyor, based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste of interest. This makes it possible to detect self-heating lithium ion batteries with high accuracy.

[0108] In the monitoring system 300 of this embodiment, the thermo camera 10 that detects heating elements is detected at multiple detection points on the transport path of the transport conveyor, and the presence or absence of an object that may cause a fire in the waste 61 is determined based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the heating element calculated based on temperature information acquired at the first detection point and temperature information acquired at the second detection point. This makes it possible to determine whether or not an object that may cause a fire is present in the waste 61 being transported by the transport conveyor.

[0109] The monitoring device 20 in this embodiment also includes an identification unit 31A that identifies the correspondence between heat generating elements at multiple detection points, and a first calculation unit 32A that calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time for each heat generating element based on the correspondence identified by the identification unit 31A. As a result, when multiple heat generating elements are detected at a first detection point on the transport path of the transport conveyor, the amount of temperature change per unit time for each heat generating element can be calculated based on the correspondence with the heat generating element detected at a second detection point upstream. Therefore, even when multiple heat generating elements are detected at a certain detection point on the transport path of the transport conveyor, the presence or absence of an object that may ignite can be determined based on the amount of temperature change for each heat generating element.

[0110] In the monitoring system 300 of the present embodiment, the control unit 34 performs the water sprinkling process when the determination unit 33B determines that an object that may lead to ignition is present, but the present invention is not limited to this. In one aspect of the monitoring system 300 of the present embodiment, the control unit 34 may perform a process to remove the object when the determination unit 33B determines that an object that may lead to ignition is present.

[0111] [Embodiment 4] Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the monitoring system 400 of this embodiment, the presence or absence of an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61 immediately after it has been crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 is determined, and the object is removed. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the periphery of the low-speed rotary crusher 55 in the waste treatment facility 50. In the following description, the thermo camera 10 that measures the temperature of the waste 61 immediately after it has been crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 10 will be referred to as a thermo camera 10D. The thermo camera 10D measures the temperature of the waste 61 as it is discharged from the low-speed rotary crusher 55 and transported to the second transport conveyor 56.

[0112] As shown in FIG. 10, the waste treatment facility 50 in this embodiment is provided with a recovery section 62 on the upstream side of the second transport conveyor 56. The recovery section 62 has an open top and stores water inside. The recovery section 62 is disposed at a position where the waste 61 dropped from the most upstream part of the second transport conveyor 56 can be recovered by rotating the second transport conveyor 56 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the waste 61 is transported from the low-speed rotary crusher 55 to the high-speed rotary crusher 57 (hereinafter also referred to as the forward direction). The recovery section 62 is not limited to a section that stores water inside, and may be configured to store a liquid that can render a heat source harmless, such as a fire extinguishing agent or a buffer solution that neutralizes Li. Alternatively, the recovery section 62 may be a container that isolates the heat source from the transport line and renders the heat source harmless.

[0113] Fig. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system 400 in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 11, the monitoring system 400 includes a thermo camera 10D instead of the thermo camera 10A of the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment. The monitoring system 400 also differs from the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment in that the main control unit 30 of the monitoring device 20 includes a first calculation unit 32B and a determination unit 33C instead of the first calculation unit 32 and the determination unit 33 in the first embodiment, and in that the monitoring system 400 does not include the identification unit 31.

[0114] The first calculation unit 32B uses the temperature information output from the thermo camera 10D to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 immediately after it is crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55. Specifically, the first calculation unit 32B calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 by comparing the temperatures of the respective imaging frames captured by the thermo camera 10D. The first calculation unit 32B may calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 by comparing the average temperature of each pixel of the imaging frames captured by the thermo camera 10D for each frame, or may calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 by comparing the temperature of the pixel showing the highest temperature among the pixels included in the imaging frames captured by the thermo camera 10D for each frame.

[0115] The first calculation unit 32B may calculate the amount of temperature change of the waste 61 per unit time using temperature information output from the thermal camera 10D that has been corrected using a conventionally known method depending on the distance between the waste 61 and the thermal camera 10D and / or the angle of the waste 61 relative to the thermal camera 10D.

[0116] Here, if the frame rate of the thermo camera D is high, the time per frame is short, making it impossible to accurately measure the temperature of the waste 61, and there may be cases where the temperature change between frames is distorted. Therefore, the first calculation unit 32B may calculate an average value of the temperature of the waste 61 for a predetermined number of consecutive frames output from the thermo camera 10D, and calculate the amount of temperature change of the waste 61 per unit time based on the calculated average value.

[0117] The determination unit 33C determines the presence or absence of an object that may ignite, contained in the waste 61 immediately after it has been crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55, based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 calculated by the first calculation unit 32B. A specific method of determination by the determination unit 33C will be described later.

[0118] In this embodiment, the control unit 34 performs a process of removing the potentially ignitable object when the determination unit 33C determines that the waste 61 immediately after being crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 contains a potentially ignitable object. Specifically, when the determination unit 33C determines that the waste 61 immediately after being crushed by the low-speed rotary crusher 55 contains a potentially ignitable object, the control unit 34 controls the second transport conveyor 56 to rotate in a direction opposite to the forward direction. As a result, the potentially ignitable object falls from the most upstream portion of the second transport conveyor 56, is collected by the collection unit 62, and is removed from the second transport conveyor 56.

[0119] (An example of processing flow) An example of the flow of processing in the monitoring system 400 will be described with reference to Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing in the monitoring system 400.

[0120] As shown in FIG. 12, in the processing in the monitoring system 400, first, the first calculation unit 32B acquires from the thermo camera 10D a temperature display image of the waste 61 being discharged from the low-speed rotary crusher 55 and transported to the second transport conveyor 56 (step S61).

[0121] Next, the first calculation unit 32B analyzes the acquired temperature display image to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 being transported on the second transport conveyor 56 (step S62).

[0122] Next, the judgment unit 33C judges whether the temperature change rate per unit time of the waste 61 calculated by the first calculation unit 32B is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (in this example, equal to or greater than 0.1° C. / sec) (step S63). If the temperature change rate per unit time of the waste 61 calculated by the first calculation unit 32B is less than 0.1° C. / sec (NO in step S63), the process returns to step S61.

[0123] On the other hand, if the temperature change rate per unit time of the waste 61 calculated by the first calculation unit 32B is 0.1° C. / sec or more (YES in step S63), it is considered that there is a lithium ion battery that has generated self-heating that may lead to a fire, so the control unit 34 rotates the second transport conveyor 56 in the direction opposite to the forward direction (step S64). As a result, the waste 61 including the object that may lead to a fire that has arrived at the second transport conveyor 56 is collected by the collection unit 62.

[0124] Next, the control unit 34 rotates the second transport conveyor 56 in the forward direction (step S65), and the process returns to step S61.

[0125] Note that the method of removing potentially ignitable objects from the second transport conveyor 56 is not limited to the above method. In one aspect of the present disclosure, for example, potentially ignitable objects may be removed from the second transport conveyor 56 by a robot hand, or potentially ignitable objects may be removed from the second transport conveyor 56 by pushing the potentially ignitable objects from a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the second transport conveyor 56 transports the waste 61.

[0126] The waste 61 collected in the collection section 62 is placed in water for a certain period of time in the collection section 62. This allows the objects with an elevated temperature to be inactivated. The inactivated objects may be returned to the second transport conveyor 56 again after drying.

[0127] [Embodiment 5] Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the monitoring system 500 of this embodiment, the presence or absence of an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61 immediately after it has been crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57 is determined, and the object is removed. Fig. 13 is a view of the periphery of the high-speed rotary crusher 57 in the waste treatment facility 50, seen from the upstream to downstream direction in the transport direction of the third transport conveyor 58.

[0128] In the following description, the thermo camera 10 that measures the temperature of the waste 61 immediately after it has been crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57 will be referred to as the thermo camera 10E as shown in Figures 1 and 13. The thermo camera 10E measures the temperature of the waste 61 on the passage 63 for sending the waste 61 crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57 to the third transport conveyor 58.

[0129] The waste treatment facility 50 in this embodiment is provided with a removal mechanism 70 upstream of the third transport conveyor 58, as shown in FIG.

[0130] The removal mechanism 70 includes a movable part 71 and a recovery part 72. The movable part 71 is configured by connecting a first member 71A and a second member 71B substantially vertically. The first member 71A and the second member 71B may be configured by plate-shaped members.

[0131] The movable part 71 can rotate around a shaft 71C extending in a direction along the conveying direction of the third conveyor 58 (perpendicular to the paper in FIG. 13). The shaft 71C is located above the third conveyor 58, at the end of the third conveyor 58 opposite to the side to which the waste 61 is sent from the high-speed rotary crusher 57. The movable part 71 can be switched between two states, a first state shown by a solid line in FIG. 13 and a second state shown by a dotted line in FIG. 13, by rotating around the shaft 71C. In the first state, the first member 71A stands upright in the vertical direction, and the second member 71B is tilted horizontally. In the second state, the first member 71A is tilted horizontally, and the second member 71B stands upright in the vertical direction. In the second state, the first member 71A is configured to receive the waste 61 discharged from the high-speed rotary crusher 57.

[0132] The movable part 71 is normally in the first state. When the movable part 71 is in the first state, the waste 61 sent from the high-speed rotary crusher 57 is received by the third transport conveyor 58 and transported by the third transport conveyor 58. On the other hand, when the movable part 71 is in the second state, the waste 61 sent from the high-speed rotary crusher 57 is received by the first member 71A of the movable part 71.

[0133] The collecting section 72 has an open top and stores water therein. The collecting section 72 is disposed at a position where it can collect the waste 61 received by the first member 71A when the movable section 71 changes from the second state to the first state. The collecting section 72 is not limited to one that stores water therein, and may be configured to store, for example, a fire extinguishing agent or a liquid that can render a heating element harmless, such as a buffer solution that neutralizes Li. Alternatively, the collecting section 72 may be a container that isolates the heating element from the conveying line and renders the heating element harmless.

[0134] Fig. 14 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system 500 in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 14, the monitoring system 500 includes a thermo camera 10E instead of the thermo camera 10A of the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment. The monitoring system 500 also differs from the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment in that the main control unit 30 of the monitoring device 20 includes a first calculation unit 32C and a determination unit 33D instead of the first calculation unit 32 and the determination unit 33 in the first embodiment, and in that the monitoring system 500 does not include the identification unit 31.

[0135] The first calculation unit 32C uses the temperature information output from the thermal camera 10E to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 immediately after it is crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57. Specifically, the first calculation unit 32C calculates the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 by comparing the temperatures of the respective imaging frames captured by the thermal camera 10E.

[0136] The determination unit 33D determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite in the waste 61 immediately after it has been crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57, based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 calculated by the first calculation unit 32C. A specific method of determination by the determination unit 33D will be described later.

[0137] In the present embodiment, when the determining unit 33D determines that a potentially ignitable object is contained in the waste 61 immediately after being crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57, the control unit 34 performs a process of removing the potentially ignitable object. Specifically, when the determining unit 33D determines that a potentially ignitable object is contained in the waste 61, the control unit 34 controls the removal mechanism 70 to switch the movable unit 71 of the removal mechanism 70 from the first state to the second state. As a result, the potentially ignitable object is received by the first member 71A of the movable unit 71. The control unit 34 controls the removal mechanism 70 to switch the movable unit 71 from the second state to the first state a predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 to 2 seconds) after the movable unit 71 is switched from the first state to the second state. As a result, the potentially ignitable object received by the first member 71A is sent to the recovery unit 72 and recovered.

[0138] (An example of processing flow) An example of the flow of processing in the monitoring system 500 will be described with reference to Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing in the monitoring system 500.

[0139] In the process of the monitoring system 500, first, the first calculator 32C acquires, from the thermo camera 10E, a temperature display image of the waste 61 being transported on the passage 63 (step S71).

[0140] Next, the first calculation unit 32C analyzes the acquired temperature display image to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 being transported on the passage 63 (step S72).

[0141] Next, the judgment unit 33D judges whether the temperature change rate of the waste 61 per unit time calculated by the first calculation unit 32C is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (in this example, equal to or greater than 0.1° C. / sec) (step S73). If the temperature change rate of the waste 61 per unit time calculated by the first calculation unit 32C is less than 0.1° C. / sec (NO in step S73), the process returns to step S71.

[0142] On the other hand, if the amount of temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 calculated by the first calculation unit 32C is 0.1° C. / sec or more (YES in step S73), it is considered that there is a lithium ion battery that has generated self-heating that may lead to a fire, so the control unit 34 switches the movable part 71 of the removal mechanism 70 from the first state to the second state (step S74). As a result, the waste 61 including the object that may lead to a fire is received by the first member 71A of the movable part 71.

[0143] Next, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the control unit 34 switched the movable unit 71 from the first state to the second state, the movable unit 71 is switched from the second state to the first state (step 75). As a result, the object that has the potential to cause fire and that is received by the first member 71A is collected by the collection unit 72. Then, the process returns to step S71.

[0144] The method for removing the potentially flammable objects is not limited to the above method. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the waste 61 including the potentially flammable objects that has reached the third transport conveyor 58 may be removed by a robot hand.

[0145] The waste 61 collected in the collection section 72 is placed in water for a certain period of time in the collection section 72. This allows the objects with an elevated temperature to be inactivated. The inactivated objects may be returned to the third transport conveyor 58 after being dried.

[0146] <Modification> In the fifth embodiment, a configuration in which potentially ignitable objects are removed by the removal mechanism 70 has been described, but potentially ignitable objects may be removed by other mechanisms. In this modification, a removal mechanism 80 that is a modification of the removal mechanism 70 will be described.

[0147] 16 is a view of the periphery of the high-speed rotary crusher 57 in this modified example, seen from the upstream to downstream direction in the conveying direction of the third transport conveyor 58. As shown in FIG. 16, the removal mechanism 80 includes a movable part 81 and a recovery part 82.

[0148] The movable part 81 is provided in the passage 63 and can rotate around a shaft 81A extending in a direction along the conveying direction of the third transport conveyor 58 (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 16). The movable part 81 may be composed of, for example, a plate-shaped member. The movable part 81 can be switched between two states, a first state shown by a solid line in FIG. 16 and a second state shown by a dotted line in FIG. 16, by rotating around the shaft 81A. In the first state, the movable part 81 is parallel to the passage 63 and forms a part of the passage 63. When the movable part 81 is in the first state, the waste 61 discharged from the high-speed rotary crusher 57 is sent to the third transport conveyor 58. In the second state, the movable part 81 hangs down vertically from the shaft 81A. When the movable part 81 is in the second state, a portion of the passage 63 is missing, and the waste 61 discharged from the high-speed rotary crusher 57 falls from the area where the movable part 81 was present in the first state.

[0149] The collecting section 82 has an open top and stores water therein. The collecting section 82 is disposed at a position where, when the movable section 81 is in the second state, the collecting section 82 can collect the waste 61 that has fallen from the area where the movable section 81 was in the first state. The collecting section 82 is not limited to one that stores water therein, and may be configured to store, for example, a fire extinguishing agent or a liquid that can render a heating element harmless, such as a buffer solution that neutralizes Li. Alternatively, the collecting section 82 may be a container that isolates the heating element from the conveying line and renders the heating element harmless.

[0150] In this embodiment, the control unit 34 controls the removal mechanism 80 to switch the movable part 81 of the removal mechanism 80 from the first state to the second state when the determination unit 33D determines that the waste 61 immediately after being crushed by the high-speed rotary crusher 57 contains an object that may cause fire. As a result, the waste 61 containing the object that may cause fire while being transported through the passage 63 falls from the area where the movable part 81 was present in the first state, and is collected by the collection unit 82. The control unit 34 switches the movable part 71 from the second state to the first state a predetermined period after switching the movable part 81 from the first state to the second state.

[0151] The waste 61 collected in the collection section 82 is placed in water for a certain period of time in the collection section 72. This allows the objects with an elevated temperature to be inactivated. The inactivated objects may be returned to the third transport conveyor 58 after being dried.

[0152] [Embodiment 6] Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the monitoring system 600 of this embodiment, the presence or absence of an object that may ignite near the most downstream part of the third transport conveyor 58 is determined, and the object is removed. Figure 17 is a diagram showing the vicinity of the most downstream part of the third transport conveyor 58 in the waste treatment facility 50. In the following description, as shown in Figures 1 and 17, the thermo cameras 10 that measure the temperature of the waste 61 on the third transport conveyor 58 will be referred to as thermo camera 10F, thermo camera 10G, and thermo camera 10H in order from upstream to downstream.

[0153] As shown in FIG. 17, the waste treatment facility 50 in this embodiment includes a fourth conveyor 90 that conveys the waste 61 conveyed by the third conveyor 58 to the particle size sorter 64. The waste treatment facility 50 in this embodiment also includes a recovery section 91 on the upstream side of the fourth conveyor 90. The recovery section 91 has an open top and stores water inside. The recovery section 91 is disposed at a position where the waste 61 that has fallen from the most upstream part of the fourth conveyor 90 can be recovered by rotating the fourth conveyor 90 in the opposite direction to the direction in which the waste 61 is conveyed to the particle size sorter 64 (hereinafter also referred to as the forward direction). The recovery section 91 is not limited to a section that stores water inside, and may be configured to store a liquid that can neutralize a heat source, such as a fire extinguishing agent or a buffer solution that neutralizes Li. Alternatively, the recovery section 91 may be a container that isolates the heat source from the conveying line and neutralizes the heat source.

[0154] Fig. 18 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring system 600 in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 18, the monitoring system 600 includes a thermo camera 10F, a thermo camera 10G, and a thermo camera 10H instead of the thermo camera 10A of the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment. The monitoring system 600 also differs from the monitoring system 100 in the first embodiment in that the main control unit 30 of the monitoring device 20 includes an identification unit 31B, a first calculation unit 32D, and a determination unit 33E instead of the identification unit 31, the first calculation unit 32, and the determination unit 33 in the first embodiment.

[0155] The identification unit 31B acquires temperature information output from the thermo camera 10F, the thermo camera 10G, and the thermo camera 10H. Based on the acquired information, the identification unit 31B identifies the correspondence relationship of the heating elements at the location where the heating element is detected by the thermo camera 10F, the location where the heating element is detected by the thermo camera 10G, and the location where the heating element is detected by the thermo camera 10H. The method of identifying the correspondence relationship of the heating elements by the identification unit 31B may be the same as the method of identifying the correspondence relationship of the heating elements by the identification unit 31A in the third embodiment.

[0156] The first calculation unit 32D uses the temperature information output from the thermo cameras 10F, 10G, and 10H to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time of the heat generating elements that the identification unit 31B has identified as having the same correspondence relationship.

[0157] Based on the amount of temperature change per unit time of the heating element calculated by the first calculation unit 32D, the determination unit 33E determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite contained in the waste 61 being transported on the third transport conveyor 58. The determination method by the determination unit 33E may be similar to the determination method by the determination unit 33B in the third embodiment, except that the determination unit 33E uses temperature information output from the thermo cameras 10F, 10G, and 10H instead of the temperature information output from the thermo cameras 10B and 10C.

[0158] In this embodiment, the control unit 34 performs a process of removing the potentially ignitable object when the determination unit 33E determines that the waste 61 being transported on the third transport conveyor 58 contains a potentially ignitable object. Specifically, the control unit 34 first calculates the time at which the potentially ignitable object reaches the fourth transport conveyor 90 based on the time at which the potentially ignitable object is detected and the transport speed of the third transport conveyor 58. Next, the control unit 34 controls the fourth transport conveyor 90 to rotate the fourth transport conveyor 90 in a direction opposite to the forward direction for a predetermined period from the calculated time at which the potentially ignitable object reaches the fourth transport conveyor 90. As a result, the potentially ignitable object falls from the most upstream part of the fourth transport conveyor 90, is collected by the collection unit 91, and is removed from the fourth transport conveyor 90. The control unit 34 rotates the fourth transport conveyor 90 in the forward direction after the predetermined period of time has elapsed since the fourth transport conveyor 90 was rotated in the reverse direction.

[0159] The method for removing the potentially ignitable object is not limited to the above method. In one aspect of the present disclosure, for example, the waste 61 including the potentially ignitable object that has reached the fourth transport conveyor 90 may be removed by a robot hand, or the potentially ignitable object may be removed by using the removal mechanism 70 described in the fifth embodiment.

[0160] In the monitoring system 600 of this embodiment, the temperature change per unit time of the waste 61 being transported on the third transport conveyor 58 may be calculated using temperature information output from one of the thermo cameras 10F, 10G, and 10H. In this case, a wide-angle camera may be used as the thermo camera 10.

[0161] (Additional Notes) The method for determining the presence or absence of an object that may cause a fire and the method for removing an object that may cause a fire, which have been described in each embodiment, can be applied to other locations than those described above. As an example, the configuration using the removal mechanism 70 described in the fifth embodiment may be applied to the most downstream portion of the second transport conveyor 56, or may be applied to a transport conveyor that transports waste 61 from the particle size sorter 64 to an incineration facility (not shown). As another example, the method for determining the presence or absence of an object that may cause a fire using a plurality of thermo cameras 10 described in the third embodiment may be applied to a transport conveyor that transports waste 61 from the particle size sorter 64 to the incineration facility.

[0162] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0163] (summary) The monitoring device according to aspect 1 of the present disclosure includes a first calculation unit that calculates a change in temperature of the waste per unit time using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste at a waste treatment facility, and a determination unit that determines whether or not the waste contains an object that may ignite based on the change in temperature.

[0164] The monitoring device of aspect 2 of the present disclosure, in the above-mentioned aspect 1, may further include a second calculation unit that uses the temperature information to calculate an amount of change in temperature distribution in the waste, and the determination unit may determine the presence or absence of the object based on the amount of change in temperature and the amount of change in temperature distribution.

[0165] The monitoring device according to aspect 3 of the present disclosure may further include a control unit that performs a predetermined process when the determination unit determines that the object is present in the monitoring device according to aspect 1 or 2 above.

[0166] A monitoring device according to aspect 4 of the present disclosure, in any of aspects 1 to 3 above, may include an identification unit that acquires information from a detection unit that detects heating elements that are part of the waste mass that has generated heat at multiple detection points on the transport path of a transport conveyor in the waste treatment facility, and identifies a correspondence between at least one of the heating elements at a first detection point and at least one of the heating elements at a second detection point based on the information, and the first calculation unit may be configured to calculate the amount of temperature change per unit time for each of the heating elements based on the correspondence identified by the identification unit.

[0167] A monitoring device according to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, may be such that the temperature information is information acquired by a thermal camera that measures the temperature of a predetermined area.

[0168] A monitoring device according to aspect 6 of the present disclosure, in aspect 3 above, further comprises a process in which the determination unit sprays liquid onto an object that the determination unit has determined to have the potential to ignite, and the determination unit may again determine the presence or absence of an object that has the potential to ignite after the control unit has performed the spray process.

[0169] A monitoring device according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure is configured such that in the third aspect, the process includes removing an object that the determination unit determines to have the potential to cause a fire.

[0170] A control method for a monitoring device according to aspect 8 of the present disclosure includes the steps of calculating an amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste at a waste treatment facility, and determining the presence or absence of any object contained in the waste that may ignite based on the amount of change in temperature.

[0171] A monitoring system according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure is a monitoring system for monitoring waste at a waste treatment facility, comprising: a temperature information acquisition device that acquires temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste; and a monitoring device having: (1) a first calculation unit that calculates the amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using the temperature information acquired by the temperature information acquisition device; and (2) a judgment unit that determines the presence or absence of an object contained in the waste that has the potential to ignite based on the amount of change in temperature.

[0172] The monitoring system according to aspect 10 of the present disclosure, in accordance with aspect 9 above, may further include a sprayer that sprays liquid onto areas where dust may be generated by crushing the waste. [Explanation of symbols]

[0173] 10, 10A~10H Thermal camera 20 Monitoring equipment 31, 31A, 31B specific part 32, 32A~32D 1st calculation section 33, 33A~33E Judgment section 34 Control section 35 Second Calculation Section 50 Waste treatment facilities 54 First conveyor 56 Second conveyor 58 Third conveyor 59 Sprinkler system 60 sprayer 61 Waste 90 4th conveyor 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 Surveillance System

Claims

1. a first calculation unit that calculates an amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using temperature information indicating a temperature of the waste in the waste treatment facility; A monitoring device comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not there is an object contained in the waste that has the potential to ignite, based on the amount of change in temperature.

2. A second calculation unit is further provided that calculates an amount of change in temperature distribution in the waste using the temperature information, The monitoring device according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit determines the presence or absence of the object based on an amount of change in the temperature and an amount of change in the temperature distribution.

3. The monitoring device according to claim 1 , further comprising a control unit that performs a predetermined process when the determination unit determines that the object is present.

4. a determination unit that acquires information from a detection unit that detects a heating element that is part of the waste mass that has generated heat at a plurality of detection points on a transport path of a transport conveyor in the waste treatment facility, and determines a correspondence relationship between at least one of the heating elements at a first detection point and at least one of the heating elements at a second detection point based on the information; The monitoring device according to claim 1 , wherein the first calculation unit calculates an amount of change in temperature per unit time for each of the heat generating elements based on the correspondence relationship identified by the identification unit.

5. The monitoring device according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature information is information acquired by a thermal camera that measures the temperature of a predetermined area.

6. The process includes a spraying process of spraying a liquid onto an object that the determination unit has determined to have a possibility of catching fire, The monitoring device according to claim 3 , wherein the determination unit determines again the presence or absence of an object that may potentially ignite after the control unit has performed the spraying process.

7. The monitoring device according to claim 3 , wherein the processing includes a process of removing an object that the determining unit determines to have the potential to cause a fire.

8. calculating an amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using temperature information indicating the temperature of the waste in the waste treatment facility; and determining whether or not there is an object contained in the waste that may ignite, based on the amount of change in temperature.

9. A monitoring system for monitoring waste in a waste treatment facility, comprising: a temperature information acquisition device for acquiring temperature information indicating a temperature of the waste; A monitoring device including: (1) a first calculation unit that calculates an amount of change in temperature of the waste per unit time using the temperature information acquired by the temperature information acquisition device; and (2) a determination unit that determines whether or not there is an object that may ignite contained in the waste based on the amount of change in temperature; A surveillance system comprising:

10. The monitoring system according to claim 9 , further comprising a sprayer that sprays liquid onto a location where dust may be generated by crushing the waste.

Images