Multi-spectral flame detector with radiant energy estimation

A flame detector configured for radiant energy monitoring and quantification, comprising:

• at least one optical sensor channel, each channel including an optical sensor configured to receive optical energy from a surveilled scene within a field of view at a hazardous location, each channel producing signals providing a quantitative indication of the optical radiation received by the optical sensor within a sensor spectral bandwidth, each channel configured for detecting optical radiation in a spectral region where flames emit strong optical radiation;
• a processor responsive to the signals from the at least one optical sensor channel and configured to digitally process and analyze the signals to provide a flame present indication of detection of a real flame event, said processor comprising:
• an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) responsive to signals derived from the at least one optical sensor channel for detecting a flame and providing a flame detected signal when the ANN detects a real flame;
• a radiant energy calculator responsive to the at least one optical sensor channel signals to provide a quantitative indication of a radiant energy output of the surveilled scene;
• and
• wherein the processor is configured to compare the quantitative indication against a threshold value, and to generate an output state signal indicative of a flame alarm only if the ANN provides said flame present indication of a real flame event and said quantitative indication of the radiant energy output exceeds said threshold.

A flame detector configured for radiant heat (IR) monitoring, flame detection and discrimination of real flame events from false alarms and quantification of radiant heat output, comprising:

• a plurality of infrared (IR) sensor channels, each channel including an IR sensor configured to receive optical energy from the surveilled scene within a field of view for monitoring the total radiation incident from all sources of radiation within a spectral bandwidth in which flames emit optical radiation, each channel producing sensor signals providing a quantitative indication of the total optical radiation received by the IR sensor within the spectral bandwidth within the field of view, said plurality of sensor channels each responsive to optical energy at different IR wavelengths from the other sensor channels;
• a processor responsive to the signals from the optical sensor channels for digitally processing said signals to provide a flame present signal indicating detection of a real flame event, and to provide a quantitative indication signal of the radiant heat output (RHO) of the surveilled scene, the processor comprising:
• an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) function for processing signals derived from said sensor signals and applying ANN coefficients configured to discriminate false alarm sources from real flames, and providing ANN outputs indicating a decision indicating whether a real flame has been detected, the ANN outputs including a first ANN output state indicating that a real flame has been detected, and a second ANN output state indicating that a real flame has not been detected;
• a radiant energy computation function responsive to signals derived from said sensor signals to provide a quantitative indication of radiant energy output from the surveilled scene;
• a threshold comparator to compare the quantitative indication to a threshold and generate threshold comparator outputs indicating that the quantitative indication exceeds the threshold or does not exceed the threshold;
• combiner logic responsive to the ANN decision function signals and the threshold comparator outputs to generate output state signals, including an output state signal indicating that the ANN has detected a real flame event and that the quantitative indication exceeds the threshold;
• and
• an outputting circuit responsive to the combiner logic for transmitting information to a utilization device.