Cermet microsensors for fire detection

With the advances in detection technology and the move towards increased automation on ships, the Navy has sought fire detection systems capable of improved performance over conventional smoke detectors. The use of multicriteria technology continues to offer the most promising results. In this study, a sensor array detection system consisting of four cermet sensors and pattern recognition software has been developed to detect fires. In laboratory and shipboard tests, the performance of the current detector and alarm algorithms resulted in faster overall response times than the commercial smoke detectors. The detection of controlled fire sources was excellent; however, the discrimination of nuisance sources needs improvement and is the subject of current investigations. The results of these studies conducted in the two test series described here indicate that cermet sensors are promising fire detectors.