EVALUATE HEAT FLUX MICROSSENSOR FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE DETECTION

THE FIRE DETECTION AND CONTROL CAPABILITIES OF A NOVEL SENSOR WILL BE EVALUATED IN A COMBINED EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL PROGRAM. THE SENSOR, CALLED A HEAT FLUX MICROSENSOR (HFM), WAS DEVELOPED JOINTLY BY VIRGINIA TECH AND VATELL CORPORATION. THIS SENSOR'S CHARACTERISTICS MAKE IT AN OUTSTANDING CANDIDATE FOR USE IN FIRE DETECTION. ABLE TO DETECT LEVELS OF HEAT FLUX AS LOW AS 10 WATTS/M(2) WITH A BANDWIDTH EXCEEDING 20 KHZ, THE HFM IS DURABLE AND CAN FUNCTION IN ENVIRONMENTS FROM CRYOGENIC TO THE INTERIOR OF FLAMES. IT SENSES TEMPERATURE AND HEAT FLUX INDEPENDENTLY, COMBINATION WITH SMOKE DETECTORS, CHEMICAL SENSORS OR THE LIKE, THE HFM PROMISES GREATLY IMPROVED FIRE DETECTION CAPABILITY AND A REDUCED FALSE ALARM RATE. BOTH OF THESE ARE OBJECTIVES OF SUBTOPIC 8.7.15, "ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR DETECTION AND CONTROL OF BUILDING FIRES". IN SOME CONFIGURATIONS THE HFM CAN SURVIVE A DIRECT COMBUSTION ENVIRONMENT, AND COULD THEREFORE BE USED AS A SOURCE OF INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION DURING FIRE-FIGHTING.