A review on aircraft cargo compartment fire detection using dual-wavelength sensors

Fire detection is one of the most important components of the aeroplane fire prevention system, particularly for not accessible cargo compartments (Class C, D, E). Although technology is rapidly developing, there are still defects and lags in technology updates at the application end, photoelectric smoke detectors determine fire state conditions based on the intensity of light scattered by smoke particles, while the light scattering effect of non-fire interference aerosols can also induce false alarm, leading to a certain extent to inefficient operation in terms of security. So far, the main development direction of fire detection is to identify the characteristics of fire smoke and interference sources according to the different aerosol particles present in the specific environment of aircraft cargo compartments to assure or even improve the early identification rate of fire, while minimizing false alarm rate of fire detection system. It is observed that C919 was the first to adopt dual-wavelength smoke detection technology during test flight. Compared with conventional photoelectric smoke detector, it applies infrared and blue wavelengths to further enhance the ability to identify smoke particles and resist false alarms by comparing the infrared and blue scattered light response signals of smoke particles and interference particles.