Fire Testing — Fire and Gas Detector Evaluation

HAI has extensive experience in full-scale evaluations and experimental fire testing of existing and novel fire and gas detection system technologies. These technologies include spot smoke and heat detection, aspiration smoke detection, video image fire detection (VID), optical flame detectors, various spot and linear heat detection technologies, and carbon monoxide (CO) and other hazardous gases.

HAI engineers and scientists have extensive experience in managing and conducting fire and gas detection research and development programs to advance the use and effectiveness of fire alarm and gas equipment. These include evaluations of fire alarm system and CO detector performance in multi-compartment buildings, commercial facilities, and industrial sites. The effect of design changes in equipment and auxiliary devices, such as detector guards, have been evaluated for clients. HAI has developed alarm thresholds and guidance for smoke detector response modeling. Detailed studies have also been conducted to validate detector sitting and response modeling. Additional examples of capabilities and projects follow:

Capabilities

While we design, instrument, and conduct tests in our laboratory, we also specify, manage, and analyze tests conducted at field sites and by third-party laboratories.
HAI has a 12,000 ft2 laboratory facility at its corporate headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The facility includes bench hoods, a UL 268 smoke box, and multiple, highly configurable test enclosures. The largest facility is 1089 ft2 (100 m2) by 11.6 ft (3.53 m) high, capable of variable air flow rates up to 45 ACH.
Instrumentation includes continuous gas analyzers, an FTIR, a particle size analyzer (laser diffraction type), smoke measurement equipment, a measuring ionization chamber (MIC) and a wide range of other instruments (heat flux, flow, temperature, etc.).

Projects

Managed a test program to evaluate smoke detector performance in sub-freezing temperature environments.
Evaluated new multisensor smoke and gas detectors for various manufacturers.
Long-term environmental and fire tests for video image detection, optical flame detection and smoke aspiration detection technologies in the Lincoln Tunnel.
Full-scale evaluations of video image fire detection technologies, including laboratory tests as well as multi-space tests onboard Navy ships.
Evaluation and assessment of fire detection performance requirements of flame and VID systems for oil processing plants.
Full-scale evaluation of optical flame detection technologies for U.S. Navy hangars, including real-scale experiments with fire and nuisance sources conducted at the NRC Canada laboratories.
Fire tests to evaluate detection and suppression systems for use on the Eurotunnel heavy goods vehicle (HGV) carrier wagons working in the Channel Tunnel.
Evaluating and testing a fire protection system technology for application in a specific highway tunnel in France.
Full-scale evaluation of spot and aspiration detection in an active Canadian telecommunication facility.
Experimental validation of FDS modeling for spacing requirements of smoke detectors on beamed ceilings.
HAI conducted a project for the U.S. Navy to evaluate the performance of the existing Navy heat sensing device (HSD) systems used to protect magazines/ordnance cargo holds aboard ship.
Experimental fire testing of multiple smoke detection technologies in data communication applications.
A multi-year research program for the U.S. Navy to further develop the use of multi-sensor, multi-criteria technology for the detection of fires. This program involved full-scale testing in the HAI lab as well as on a decommissioned Navy ship. Tests included measurements of multiple gas species, including CO, CO2, HCN, NO, and hydrocarbons from various sources and under different ventilation conditions.
Evaluation of handheld multi-gas detectors (CO, O2, H2S and hydrocarbons) for the U.S. Navy.
Sensitivity, accuracy and response testing of various CO sensor technologies as part of a grant from the Department of Commerce.
A study was conducted to determine the feasibility of using line-type thermal detection to detect and monitor fires in inaccessible compartments onboard commercial aircraft
A large-scale study was conducted to evaluate state-of-the-art fire detection (including smoke, heat, beam, HCl, and HSSD) for very early fire detection in telecommunications central office facilities.
A full-scale test program was conducted to evaluate a broad range of heat and smoke detection technologies for new fire protection system designs for ship magazines.

For more information contact:

Dan Gottuk
dgottuk@haifire.com
410-737-8677