- Author
- Lee, T. G. K.
- Title
- Instrument to Evaluate Installed Smoke Detectors. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NBSIR 78-1430, February 1978, 38 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Book or Conf
- U.S./Japan Government Cooperative Program on Natural Resources (UJNR). Fire Research and Safety. 4th Joint Panel Meeting. February 5-9, 1979, Tokyo, Japan, 176 p., ['1979', '1978']
- Keywords
- aerosol generators | detector sensitivity | particle size distribution | smoke detectors | light obscuration
- Abstract
- An inexpensive portable instrument has been constructed to test the sensitivity response of installed fire smoke detectors. The test stream consists of impactor-selected small particles from aerosol generated by a pneumatic nebulizer and dilution air. The flow rate of the test steam is 140 L/min and its aerosol concentration can be varied from 10 to 60 mg/m(3), sufficient to cover the sensitive ranges of the nine typical detectors tested. The aerosol mass median particle diameter of 0.46 mu m and the breadth of the size distribution in terms of geometric standard deviation, is 1.5. The size distribution of the polydisperse aerosol at the output is independent of the aerosol concentration in the range of interest and is comparable to some fire smokes. Aerosol light obscuration as measured by a standardized photometer is linear with respect to the aerosol mass concentration 9mg/m(3)) and has a ratio 2.3 m(2)/g for this aerosol compared to 1.5 m(2)/g for cotton lampwick smoke in the UL 217 chamber.