Fibre-Optic Linear Heat Detection Systems

Advanced fire detection for high-risk, large-scale and harsh environments

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Fibre-optic linear heat detection uses a special optical fibre cable as a continuous temperature sensor. Instead of relying on individual point detectors, the system monitors temperature along the full length of the cable, allowing early detection of abnormal heat, hotspots, fire development and fire spread.

This makes fibre-optic detection especially useful in areas where normal smoke or point heat detectors may be unreliable, difficult to access, exposed to harsh conditions, or too widely spaced to provide effective protection.

Typical systems use Distributed Temperature Sensing, or DTS, where the fibre itself becomes the sensing element. The controller measures temperature at thousands of points along the cable and can identify the location of a heat event with high accuracy. Yokogawa describes DTS as a method that measures temperature distribution over the full length of an optical fibre, with the fibre cable itself acting as the sensor.