SharpEye 20/20 ML

A Smaller Detector For A Smaller Risk

Not every protected area needs 65 metres of detection range. A pump skid, a small process enclosure, a generator room, a storage cabinet or a laboratory bay is a defined space with a defined hazard, and specifying a long range detector for it means paying for reach that has nowhere to go.

The 20/20ML covers up to 15 metres, which suits that class of installation. It is compact and lightweight, so mounting is simpler and the structure required is lighter.

What it does not compromise on is the detection principle. It carries the same combined ultraviolet and infrared sensing as the larger detectors, so the fuel coverage and the false alarm rejection come across intact.

Wide Coverage For Its Size

The field of view is 100 degrees horizontally and 100 degrees vertically.

That is unusually wide, and on a short range detector it matters more than it would on a long range one. In a confined area a detector is mounted close to the hazard, so a narrow cone leaves blind spots directly beneath and beside it. A 100 degree field in both planes means a single detector can cover a small room or skid from one corner rather than needing two.

Range and field of view work together, and on this detector the field of view is doing most of the work.

Both Sensors Have To Agree

An ultraviolet sensor and an infrared sensor watch the protected area independently, and an alarm is raised only when both detect radiant energy simultaneously.

That requirement is what makes the detector usable in a real workshop or plant room. Ultraviolet detection alone responds to welding arcs and lightning. Infrared detection alone responds to hot surfaces and modulated blackbody sources. Requiring agreement cancels most of each weakness.

The ultraviolet channel carries a dedicated logic circuit specifically to prevent false alarms caused by solar radiation, which is what makes the detector solar blind.

Fuel Coverage

The 20/20ML detects hydrocarbon based fuel and gas fires, hydroxyl and hydrogen fires, and metal and inorganic fires.

That is the broad spectrum coverage, and it is worth noting because it is wider than multi-spectrum infrared detectors manage at any size. Hydrogen burns to water vapour rather than carbon dioxide, so an infrared detector watching the carbon dioxide band registers nothing at all. Metal fires produce neither signature. The combined ultraviolet and infrared approach sees all of them.

For a small area containing hydrogen, or a workshop where metals are cut or welded, this is the relevant capability.

Speed

Response to a saturated signal is 50 milliseconds.

At short range, speed matters more than it might appear. A detector 10 metres from a hazard has no travel time to absorb, so the detection time is the response time. Where the detector drives suppression rather than only an alarm, 50 milliseconds is what allows the system to act before an incipient fire develops.

Configuration And Integration

Functions are user programmable through software from a PC or a handheld device, so sensitivity and behaviour are set to suit the area rather than accepted as shipped.

Connection is a standard four wire arrangement, with 4 to 20 mA available in three and four wire source configurations and RS-485 Modbus for digital integration. Built in test runs automatically and can be triggered manually.

Mean time between failures is quoted at a minimum of 100,000 hours, with a three year warranty.

Where It Is Used

Pump and compressor skids. Small process enclosures and cabinets. Generator and plant rooms. Laboratory bays and fume enclosures. Fuel dispensing and small storage areas. Workshops and welding bays. Battery and charging rooms. Turbine enclosures. Sample and analyser houses. Machinery spaces on vessels. Small hydrogen storage and handling areas.