Sunday, 7 September 2014

Challenges Of Using Toxic Gas Detector In Ducts

By Kerri Stout


Gases harmful to the health of human beings are referred to as a toxic gas and their exposure should be avoided. Most of these gases do not smell and are colorless making their detection impossible without the use of toxic gas detector. Many lives can be saved if these gases are detected early before they mix with atmospheric air. The correct medical attention can be administered immediately in the case a person inhaled those gases.

Ducts are installed in industries for gas movement. Leaking can happen due to some chemical reactions inside the ducts or from poor maintenance which releases the toxics into the atmosphere. Gas ducts are also found in our homes especially for cooking gas which sometimes can be contaminated with other gases from the point of supply. Carbon monoxide has claimed many lives and happens due to poor ventilation of a room where there is wood or charcoal burning. Detectors are needed to warn or control those gases.

The effectiveness of the detectors however may be subject to several factors and they may not warn you in advance at all times. This means that the systems set up to prevent high prevalence of the gases may not respond positively leading to diffusion of the gases to the areas with human presence. The failure to automatically shut down the ducts may lead to loss of lives and thus gaining an understanding as to why the systems may fail will help avert future recurrence of loss of lives.

One major cause of system failures is the dilution that happens when atmospheric air enters the ducts in large quantities because of malfunctioning ducts. This delays the detection of harmful gases in the ducts. The toxic gases will flow into the homes or offices endangering lives.

To solve the dilution problem, the sensors in the detectors should be made very sensitive. A warning should be issued for any level of toxic gases detected for further investigation. Ignoring this can mean you are endangering the lives of the personnel working or living there

Duct stratification poses yet another challenge in detection. The ducts have bends, expansions and contractions. In an area of expansion the speed is low and build up of air increases, in that of contraction speed is very high and no build up of air. Taking levels from the two parts will give different results for that same gas flow.

Velocity of gases in the ducts sometimes is as high as 68 mph. The gas at this speed is moving very turbulently and can destroy anything on its way. Sensors in the ducts should be made using materials that can withstand the pressure the gas will have on them. They should be able to trigger alarms and control the optimum temperatures for a reaction without the sensors being directly hit.

Toxic gas detectors are recommended by plant safety professionals to be installed in the duct's main supply. At this position it will turn off the supply fans next to the filters if it detects the gases. This is a solution to all the three challenges.




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