How Does A Flame Detector Work?
A Flame Detector is a tool that’s used for preventing fire in a building. It mainly detects presence of open flames and offers an auditory or a visual warning to the inmates of the building so that they can escape. They are very useful in the factories that deal with harmful and hazardous material. They are becoming more and more popular even in households now. In case you are planning to buy a flame arrestor, for your house or office, you need to know about the different options available. It would help you in making an informed choice.
Most of the flames arrestors that are available detect the flames through different methods such as ultraviolet or infrared spectroscopy as well as visual flames image. The flames which are produced through combustion of the particular material produce waves at particular wavelengths. An analysis of wavelengths in the area helps the arrestor in distinguishing between risky fire and false alarm.
Different types of flame arrestors
Below are few common types of flame arrestors that are being used these days:
Ultra violet flame detectors
These type of flame detectors respond to the waves in ultraviolet spectrum. They are quite sensitive and also react very quickly at shorter range. As they are very sensitive to the other waves sources such as halogen lamps, lights, welders, etc. they aren’t the first choice in the outdoor setup. Their sensitivity may even get affected by the soot and thick smoke.
IR or UV flame detectors
When the infrared device gets attached to the UV sensors, it creates the detector that’s sensitive to the bands of spectrum. It increases efficiency of the flame detector and also works at a moderate speed over larger distance. It’s also suitable for indoors as well as outdoor uses. However, just like with the Ultra Violet detectors, their capability is also affected by a thick smoke.
Multispectral Infrared flame detector
The multispectral Infra-red flame detector employs several IR region for helping it differentiate between the regions of the flame as well as non-flame background. They are suitable for the areas that have smoky fire. They are efficient within a wide range of 200 feet. They also work at moderate speed. They are suitable for indoor as well as outdoor usage. They even exhibit high immunity level to most of the hot surfaces in the industrial areas like sunlight, welding, etc.
Visual flame arrestors
These type of flame arrestors use a chargeable couple device sensor usually used in the closed circuit cameras along with special algorithm for detecting flames. The algorithm is able to work on the LIVE video and assess the progression as well as shape of the flames for distinguishing between different sources. Unlike the other detectors of Open Path Gas, they do not depend on intensity of fire or type of waves that it produces. Thus, they’re used in different factories for distinguishing between an intentional fire and an accidental one. These flame arrestors can’t be used for detecting the flames that are not visible to the human eye like hydrogen fire.
