A solar simulator capable of producing an irradiance of 300 suns is reported. Technical challenges were not limited to optical design; developing a methodology to measuring 300 suns was difficult. This document reports on the design of the custom fabricated solar simulator, the measurement methodology for high-powered solar concentrator measurements and empirical results validating the desired simulated power density as well as the irradiance stability, spectral accuracy, beam uniformity and irradiance beam size.
Fixed gas detection equipment for the petroleum industries is no ordinary equipment. It is designed for continued
unattended surveillance in harsh environments. The equipment must be reliable and require limited field maintenance.
An additional requirement is a high resistance to false alarms and interferences, which can potentially reduce the
detector's efficacy and the level of protection provided. In recent years, several manufactures of IR imaging devices have
launched commercial models that are applicable to a wide range of chemical species and suitable for industrial use.
These cameras are rugged and sufficiently sensitive to detect low concentrations of combustible and toxic gases.
Nonetheless, as users become acquainted with these imaging systems, questions of resilience to solar and flame radiation
and other IR sources, interferences by fog or steam, have begun to emerge. These questions, in fact, reflect similar
concerns as those raised with open path IR gas detectors when they first appeared in the market over 20 years ago. This
paper examines an IR gas imager's performance when exposed to several false alarm sources. Gas detection sensitivity
in the presence of false stimuli and response and recovery times under an uncontrolled outdoor environment were
measured. The results show the specific model tested is reasonably immune to false alarms, while response times were
unaffected by the presence of these sources.
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