A proper fire suppression system involves many elements. Each one plays an important role in protecting you and your property from deadly fires.
Flame detectors are one such element, and it is certainly instrumental in fire protection. Still, few people know exactly what they do. Here’s why flame detectors are essential to a sound fire suppression system.
What Is a Flame Detector?
Unlike a smoke detector, flame detectors are designed only to detect flames by activating under certain conditions, like a specific amount of UV or radiation. Once the detector activates after reacting to the radiation created by the fire, it triggers an alarm or a series of fire mitigation events like turning on sprinkler systems.
Flame detectors can sense fire much faster than other methods, making them an absolute necessity for buildings or work environments that are prone to fires. Smoke detectors, while also important for a good fire suppression system, require the fire to eventually produce smoke and for the smoke to rise to the alarm.
There are four primary types of flame detectors, each offering unique advantages over the other:
- Infrared flame sensors
- Ultraviolet flame sensors
- Rectification flame sensors
- Flame rods
If you’re considering adding a flame detector to your fire suppression system, a fire prevention expert can walk you through which model would make the most sense for your needs.
Why They’re So Necessary
Flame sensors are somewhat taken for granted compared to other fire alarms. But having one is beneficial for many reasons, which we detail below.
Improved Safety
Flame sensors can quickly and accurately sense fires. Of course, fires can be devastating even if they’re only lit for a few seconds. However, the faster you stop them, the greater the chance that no one comes to harm. There’s also a lower chance of the flames setting off a chain reaction, potentially doing even more damage or making the situation even less safe.
Fire Suppression for Unique Situations
When you consider the idea of a fire happening on a property, you probably think of a spark igniting something and creating flames. But in reality, there are many places where a fire can start in something as aggressive as an explosion. These situations can be made much worse by the presence of specific things like gas or oil. That’s why kitchen fire systems are so important.
This is where flame detectors are crucial; it’s imperative to have a flame detector in place to protect as many people and pieces of equipment as possible. There are some scenarios where you’d want a device that detects fire, even if it can’t sense smoke or heat, and that’s exactly what these systems do.
Better Reliability
Flame detectors are more resistant to false alarms than other fire protection systems. This means they’re impressively accurate. The only caveat is that infrared detectors potentially trigger false alarms if a lot of natural light enters the building. In such instances, you’d simply opt for a UV detector over an infrared to avoid the problem.
Integration With Other Mitigation Systems
Flame detectors can quickly activate fire suppression systems, so there’s no time wasted putting out the fire. They’re also less prone to going off accidentally. As such, there’s little chance that the other systems will trigger unnecessarily, which could be potentially disrupting or damaging if there’s no actual fire.
Better Prevention and Protection With Preventive Fire
There’s nothing you want more than peace of mind should the worst come to pass. And that’s precisely what Preventive Fire’s fire mitigation services offer: solutions tailored to your needs that will keep you and your property safe from harm or damage. Contact us today to learn more about our safety services.