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New standards in beam detection

New solution reinvents open-area smoke detection.

Xtralis, the company behind VESDA, will launch its OSID (open area smoke imaging detection) technology designed for open spaces where fire detection presents unique challenges. OSID delivers verified results including fast, unsurpassed immunity to reflections, vibrations and extreme building movement; and highest immunity to dust, steam, fog, condensation and other obstructions.

OSID by Xtralis was the winner of the Judge’s Choice Award at the ISC West 2011 New Product Showcase (NPS) while competing against 84 other entries. ISC West is the largest in North America and one of the major global exhibitions in the industry, last year it was attended by over 23 000 participants.

OSID has been deployed on test sites in Europe and on one of the sites G. Rymenans, project manager for at VAG Security, could not believe that any active smoke detection system could protect his plant. “The system is now running for three months without any faults or false alarms while being subjected to vibration, building movement and continuous moving cranes in the facility.

“On top of that”, continues G. Rymenans, “the installation took only 25% of the time we would have spent on installing beam detectors if these had been able to operate in this environment.”

A significant benefit of OSID is its ability to provide volumetric coverage. As many as seven emitters can be placed within the field of view of a single imager, each placed at different heights. The imager’s large viewing angles, both horizontal and vertical, enable three-dimensional area coverage for design flexibility and additional deployment savings.

Jorge Moreno, program manager, Environmental and Building Technologies, Frost & Sullivan, says that the quality and reliability improvements achieved by OSID have resulted in better performance and higher resistance to false alarms typically caused by dust, steam, insects, objects or human interference: “The extraordinary tolerance of the OSID product to misalignment means that nuisance alarms caused by building movement or misalignment at installation are a thing of the past,” he says.

“This cost-effective smoke detection solution is bringing more value to the owners by means of lower installation costs and advanced image detection capabilities. The simple and easy installation and maintenance requirements make OSID advantageous for customers and contractors alike.”

Ghassan Habelrih, executive vice president of Safety Products and Business Development for Xtralis, said: “OSID lowers the lifetime cost of protection for all stakeholders due to considerably faster installation, simplified maintenance, larger area coverage, and the elimination of unwarranted interruptions to end-user business due to false alarms. Uniquely, OSID provides the highest possible reliability in protection of facilities at low installed cost, yet maintains the system integrator’s bottom line over the life of the service contract, leaving everyone satisfied.”

OSID overcomes the weaknesses of traditional detection solutions used in large, open spaces where standard sensitivity detection is required. In its simplest configuration, OSID resembles a beam detector but is an entirely new technology. Unlike video smoke detection, OSID works reliably in any environment – regardless of lighting, smoke type or airflows.

OSID installation and commissioning is intuitive because exact alignment between the imager and emitter is not required. An imager can locate and lock in an emitter that is only roughly aligned thanks to the imager’s wide field of view. And because OSID uses a wide-angle imaging sensor, its sophisticated algorithms can compensate for vibrations and building movement.

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