Gas and flame detection and identification using uncooled MWIR imaging sensors

Abstract

Gas detectors are nowadays widely spread for safety purposes in industrial facilities. They are categorized by the type of gas they detect: combustible and/or toxic. Whereas electrochemical sensors have limited lifetime and maintenance issues, infrared sensors are reliable and free of maintenance devices used for detecting a wide variety of VOCs and inflammable gases such as hydrocarbon vapors. They usually work via a system of transmitters (light sources) which power is interfered when a gas is present in the optical path. A spectral analysis of this optical interference allows the gas detection and identification. Optical flame detectors are sensors intended to sight and respond to the presence of a flame, faster than a smoke detector or a heat detector would do. Many of these systems operate in the infrared band in order to detect the heat radiation, most of the times by comparison of three specific wavelength bands. Most of the present infrared gas and optical flame detectors traditionally make use of MWIR single point sensors rather than imaging sensors; this is mainly due to the lack of affordable imaging sensing technologies in this band of the infrared spectrum. However, the appearance of uncooled imaging MWIR sensors made of VPD PbSe, with spectral detection range from 1 to 5 microns, opens the possibility to incorporate these sensors into gas and flame detection systems to allow area monitoring.