AUTOMATIC FIRE DETECTION SYSTEM FOR LARGE FACILITIES

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS A NEW CONCEPT FOR IMPROVED FIRE DETECTION SYSTEMS FOR LARGE, HIGH CEILING, HIGH VOLUME FACILITIES SUCH AS THE ORBITER PROCESSING FACILITY. EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON SYSTEMS WHICH ARE ECONOMICAL, HIGHLY RELIABLE, HAVE RAPID RESPONSE TIMES, AND MINIMIZE FALSE ALARMS. THE ADVANCED DESIGN CONCEPT ASSESSED INCLUDES MULTISPECTRAL SENSORS AND THE CROSS CORRELATION OF SENSOR SIGNAL INFORMATION WHICH ELIMINATES OR REDUCES SENSOR OBSCURATION DUE TO DIRT, SMOKE, INTERRUPTED PHYSICAL LINE OF SIGHT, AND UV ABSORBING GASES AND VAPORS. IT HAS PROSPECTS FOR MUCH GREATER SENSITIVITY AND DETECTION RANGE THAN EXISTING SYSTEMS. THE CONCEPT AVOIDS SENSOR SIGNAL SATURATION AND ELIMINATES FALSE ALARMS DUE TO GAMMA AND X-RAY RADIATION, WELDING, ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING, AND LIGHTNING. THE SENSORS MEASURE FIRE SPECTRAL EMISSIONS ACROSS THE UV AND IR RANGE, AND THE INCLUSION OF STATE- OF-THE-ART PHOTOMULTIPLIER TUBES OFFERS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES OVER CONVENTIONAL FIRE ALARM UV SENSORS. OTHER DESIGN FEATURES ARE SOLAR REJECTION SPECTRAL FILTERS, FAST PHOTON-COUNTING ELECTRONICS, AND A HIGH SPEED DIGITAL PROCESSER. UNIQUE SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGORITHMS, DERIVED FROM AIRBORNE MISSLE WARNING SYSTEMS, ARE APPLIED.