Fire Detection for Cargo compartment

m-u-t Aviation-Technology develops fire detection systems using latest NIR technology. Based on these sensor technology turnkey solutions for the aircraft industry and for security systems buildings, both of them designed to meet the requirements of their individual markets.

Since present systems do not allow any kind of visual inspection or in depth assessment of the conditions inside of the affected cargo compartment by the crew, any alert initiates the same activities (activation of the Halon fire suppression system and a subsequent emergency landing), as required by aviation authorities (FAA / JAA). These activities are both costly and very detrimental to the image of the airlines. This unsatisfactory situation calls out for a more flexible and reliable system in addition to the primary smoke detectors. Additionally to the swift message (response time less than 1 second) confirming or not confirming the primary alarm, our system provides data to the system display in the cockpit:

• Processed video images, e.g. including color enhancement of the observed event, visualization of cargo compartments and camera
  positions, time stamp etc.
• Direct and live video images into the affected cargo compartment, thus allowing the crew to assess the real conditions as well as the efficiency of fire suppression activities.

Components

The main components are a camera including advanced image processing capabilities and an illumination module, including temperature and relative humidity sensors. The camera is based on advanced CCD-Technology which is complemented by proprietary elements like filter and illumination modules as well as image processing software. This software helps detecting fire and so called "hot spots" having surface temperatures of 300°C and above.
 
Prevention of false alarms based on humidity and temperature sensors

In cargo compartments fog often develops due to variations of pressure during flights. These phenomenon activates traditional smoke detectors and therefore cause false alarms. In order to prevent those false alarms m-u-t developed and patented a measuring method working with camera-based fire detectors as well as temperature and humidity sensors. The relative humidity and the dew point temperature can be calculated from these data. The system now determines if the atmosphere tends to create fog or not. The base for these calculations is an aging stable sensor which is patented as well.