Use of Distributed Temperature Sensing Technology to Characterize Fire Behavior

We evaluated the potential of a fiber optic cable connected to distributed temperature sensing (DTS) technology to withstand wildland fire conditions and quantify fire behavior parameters. We used a custom-made ‘fire cable’ consisting of three optical fibers coated with three different materials—acrylate, copper and polyimide. The 150-m cable was deployed in grasslands and burned in three prescribed fires. The DTS system recorded fire cable output every three seconds and integrated temperatures every 50.6 cm. Results indicated the fire cable was physically capable of withstanding repeated rugged use. Fiber coating materials withstood temperatures up to 422 °C. Changes in fiber attenuation following fire were near zero (−0.81 to 0.12 dB/km) indicating essentially no change in light gain or loss as a function of distance or fire intensity over the length of the fire cable. Results indicated fire cable and DTS technology have potential to quantify fire environment parameters such as heat duration and rate of spread but additional experimentation and analysis are required to determine efficacy and response times. This study adds understanding of DTS and fire cable technology as a potential new method for characterizing fire behavior parameters at greater temporal and spatial scales.

Raw project data is available by contacting [e-mail]

本研究评估了连接分布式温度传感（DTS）技术的光纤电缆在野火条件下的耐受性以及量化火灾行为参数的潜力。我们使用了由三种不同材料——丙烯酸酯、铜和聚酰亚胺——涂覆的三根光纤组成的定制‘防火电缆’。该150米长的电缆部署在草地上，并在三次预定火灾中进行燃烧。DTS系统每三秒记录一次防火电缆的输出，并每隔50.6厘米整合一次温度。结果表明，防火电缆在物理上能够承受重复的恶劣使用。光纤涂层材料能够承受高达422°C的温度。火灾后光纤衰减的变化接近于零（−0.81至0.12 dB/km），表明光增益或损失随距离或火灾强度变化在防火电缆全长范围内几乎无变化。结果表明，防火电缆和DTS技术具有量化火灾环境参数（如热量持续时间和蔓延速率）的潜力，但需要进一步实验和分析以确定其有效性和响应时间。本研究深化了对DTS和防火电缆技术的理解，将其作为在更大时间空间尺度上表征火灾行为参数的潜在新方法。

原始项目数据可通过联系[e-mail]获取。