Performance data shows that new four-sensor multi-criteria detector technology provides rapid response to fire and superior nuisance immunity in challenging detection environments when compared to single- and two-sensor models.

Fire detection has always been a balancing act. Detector technology must be sensitive enough to detect fire at its earliest stage, yet not so sensitive as to cause nuisance alarms. As a result, the development of fire detection technology has always been constrained by the need to balance sensitivity and detection speed against nuisance alarm resistance.

For most applications, traditional smoke detection technologies such as ionization and photoelectric have met and exceeded standard requirements. Other detection technologies have performed admirably in applications with more specific requirements, such as HVAC ducts or large, open rooms (see the sidebar for an overview of several detector technologies and their ideal applications). These technologies have provided exceptional life and property protection capabilities by maintaining an ideal balance between these two competing constraints.

However, current detector technology has struggled to maintain this balance when deployed in challenging environments.

Specifically, some applications such as kitchens, boiler rooms and paint shops will likely have persistent conditions that mimic some aspect of actual fire and lead to nuisance alarms. In other applications, even sporadic nuisance alarms cannot be tolerated. For example, in healthcare applications, nuisance alarms can endanger patients, staff and expensive medical equipment. Or, in organizations such as financial trading centers, laboratories, telecommunication networks, energy generating plants, traffic control centers and manufacturing plants, false alarms can interrupt crucial daily activities and lead to significant business losses.

In these types of applications, when set at sensitivity levels necessary to provide escape times sufficient to maintain life safety, traditional detector technologies often cannot provide adequate nuisance immunity. As a result, persistent nuisance alarms can lead to distrust in the fire detection system and apathy to fire alarms among staff or other occupants of the building. This apathy can slow appropriate action to protect life safety or assets — even in an actual fire situation.

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Tags: Multi-criteria Detection, Smoke detection

Posted in Carbon Monoxide Detection, Commercial, Design and Installation, Intelligent Detection, Spring 2009