We propose a method for localizing a fire source using an optical fiber distributed temperature sensor system. A section of two parallel optical fibers employed as the sensing element is installed near the ceiling of a closed room in which the fire source is located. By measuring the temperature of hot air flows, the problem of three-dimensional fire source localization is transformed to two dimensions. The method of the source location is verified with experiments using burning alcohol as fire source, and it is demonstrated that the method represents a robust and reliable technique for localizing a fire source also for long sensing ranges.

Temperature is an important physical quantity in most industrial processes. Distributed temperature sensor (DTS), fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) are three primary techniques for temperature measurement using fiber optic sensing and spectrum technology. The DTS system can monitor space temperature field along the fiber in real time. In addition, it also can locate a fire source using two sections of optical fibers which are placed orthogonally to each other. The FBG temperature sensor is used to measure the point temperature. The temperature sensitivity of the bare FBG is 10.68 pm/°C and the linearity is 0.99954 in the range of 30–100°C. Based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), two-dimensional (2D) distribution reconstructions of gas temperature are realized using an algebraic reconstruction technique (ART). The results are in agreement with the simulation results, and the time resolution is less than 1 s.