Abstract:
The aviation industry has its share of incidents and accidents; among which, fire on board an aircraft represents a very dangerous in-flight situation. A critical area would be the cargo compartment which is mostly inaccessible during flight. To minimize the risk, an early detection of an in-flight fire or smoke situation is mandatory to initiate the corrective action at an appropriate time. Early detection and indication of location of the fires are very important and crucial to a satisfactory conclusion. One such detection method is the smoke detection system. There are various smoke detection systems with their strength and application. This project is about smoke detection based on photoelectric sensors.
The principle behind the operation of the smoke detector based on photoelectric sensor is described in detail with accompanying diagrams showing the position of the various key components. To better understand the workings of the photoelectric smoke detector and to visualize a typical triggering of the detector, a scaled down enclosed testing chamber was constructed out of an aquarium and with the photoelectric smoke detector in place and activated. A simulated smoldering fire was started with the smoke detector not failing to trigger. The smoke detector was very effective with the sensitivity a function of distance. As such, the strategic placements of such detectors are very important. Placement of such detectors in various areas of the aircraft was also shown. Apart from demonstrating a variety of skills, including the ability to plan, performing research, managing time, working as a team and independently, additional knowledge is gained in these areas of detection system, being able to identify photoelectric smoke detector system and understand its principle of operation and limitations.
