A method for spark rejection in ultraviolet flame detectors

Author

Pauchard, Alexandre R. ; Manic, Dragan ; Flanagan, Adrian ; Besse, Pierre A. ; Popovic, Rade S.

Author_Institution

Inst. of Microsyst., Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Lausanne, Switzerland

Volume

47

Issue

1

fYear

2000

fDate

2/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

168

Lastpage

174

Abstract

A novel method is presented to render ultraviolet (UV) flame detectors insensitive to ignition spark radiation. The method involves isolating the signal due to the sparks from the UV sensor output and subtracting a DC signal proportional to it from the output of the flame detector sensor system. A practical demonstration of the method is given using a commercially available UV flame detector with the addition of an analog circuit to perform the necessary signal processing. A selectivity improvement to spark radiation of greater than 130 has been obtained. The method is robust in that it is independent of the distance between the light source and the flame detector and has been designed to work with different spark generators found on the market. The analog circuit is simple, requiring few components, thus ensuring rugged, fail-safe operation and low cost

Keywords

arcs (electric); flames; sparks; ultraviolet detectors; UV sensor output; ignition spark radiation; light source; spark generators; spark radiation selectivity improvement; spark rejection method; ultraviolet flame detectors; Analog circuits; Costs; Fires; Ignition; Light sources; Radiation detectors; Robustness; Sensor systems; Signal processing; Sparks;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0046

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/41.824139

Filename

824139