BIOSENSORS FOR AIRCRAFT SMOKE DETECTION

UDT SENSORS, INC. PROPOSES A NOVEL TECHNIQUE OF MONITORING AND DETECTING LOW LEVELS OF VARIOUS GASEOUS COMPONENTS OF FIRE MY MID INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY, IN THE REGION OF 3 TO 20 MICRON. THE FIRE DETECTOR CONSISTS OF A STABLE INFRARED SOURCE, AND NARROW BAND THERMOPILE DETECTORS TUNED FOR GASEOUS BY PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION, UNIQUE TO AIRCRAFT FIRES. SUCH THERMOPILE DETECTORS ARE CAPABLE OF IDENTIFYING PARTS PER MILLION CONCENTRATIONS OF CARBONMONOXIDE, NITROUS OXIDE AND SPECIFIC HYDROCARBONS LIKE HCN. BY COMBINING THE DETECTION OF THREE TO FOUR GASEOUS COMPONENTS, THE SYSTEM MIMICS HUMAN NOSE. CONVENTIONAL ULTRA SENSITIVE INFRARED AND ULTRAVIOLET FLAME DETECTOR CAN BE ADDED TO THIS "CHEMICAL NOSE" TO MAKE THIS FIRE DETECTOR AN EFFECTIVE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM. THE PHASE I RESEARCH WILL IDENTIFY THE FREQUENTLY OCCURRING GASEOUS BY-PRODUCTS OF AN AIRCRAFT FIRE. RESEARCH ON QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES OF SPECIFIC HYDROCARBONS WILL BE DONE. A PROTOTYPE DETECTOR CONSISTING OF FOUR DETECTORS WILL BE BUILT AND TESTED IN A LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT.