What are the common misconceptions when using gas detectors
Gas detectors are a type of gas leakage concentration detection instrument tool. With the development of industry and the improvement of people's safety awareness, it has become a consensus to use gas detectors in hazardous areas to ensure the safety of workers. However, gas detectors have repeatedly failed to open, damaged, and failed to alarm, which is not a product quality issue, but may be caused by human operation errors. Below, our company will share with you common misconceptions about using gas detectors. Let's take a look together~
Mistakes in selection
Generally, various types of organic volatile gases such as benzene, alcohol, lipid, amine, etc. are not suitable for detection using catalytic combustion principle. Instead, PID photoionization principle should be used for detection. Because catalytic combustion sensors are not suitable for measuring alkane gases such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and other volatile gases, especially hydrocarbon compounds with benzene ring structures. The carbon chain is relatively strong and difficult to break under catalytic combustion, resulting in incomplete combustion. Incomplete molecules will accumulate on the surface of the catalytic bead, leading to the occurrence of "carbon deposition" phenomenon, blocking the subsequent combustion of other molecules. When the carbon deposition reaches a certain level, The combustible gas will not be able to effectively contact the catalytic bead, which leads to insensitive or even unresponsive detection. This is determined by the properties of the sensor itself and is a preliminary selection error.
Misunderstanding of acceptance
Many customers are accustomed to high concentration gas testing after receiving the instrument to ensure the quality of the product. For example, using a lighter to deflate to test a combustible gas detector is very lax and can easily cause damage to the instrument. Because the detection range of the combustible gas detector is 0-100% LEL, which is one lower explosive limit (0-5% vol for methane, for example), and the lighter gas is high-purity butane, far exceeding the detection range of the combustible gas detector.
And when using lighter gas for testing, the sensor will be subjected to 2-3 times or even higher concentrations of impact, which can cause early attenuation or deactivation of the chemical activity of the sensing element, leading to a decrease in detection accuracy and sensitivity; If it is heavy, the platinum wire will be burned off and the sensor will be scrapped. It should be noted that sensor failure caused by high concentration gas impact is not guaranteed by the manufacturer and requires replacement at their own expense.
Attention: Gas detectors should avoid using high concentration gas for testing, and standard gas should be used for testing when checking the working condition.
3. Misuse
After selecting the instrument in the early stage, please do not change the usage environment without authorization during installation. For example, after the customer purchases a hydrogen sulfide gas detector, they install the detector sensor in the pipeline and measure the concentration of hydrogen sulfide online. After one week, the instrument value shows no response. After testing, it is found that the sensor fails, and after replacement, it fails again within two weeks. The gas detector is designed to measure the concentration of gas in the environment. Online measurement of hydrogen sulfide concentration in pipelines is a modification of the usage environment. The sensor of the hydrogen sulfide gas detector is based on electrochemical principles, and the degree of electrolyte loss is positively correlated with the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the environment. The more hydrogen sulfide content, the faster the electrolyte consumption and shorter the service life.
4. Maintenance misconceptions
The equipment is only used without maintenance, and gas detectors are measuring instruments. To ensure the accuracy of their detection, regular calibration is necessary. Any gas detector that has been used for a long time will experience drift. If not calibrated in a timely manner, the error will become increasingly large, causing safety hazards. According to regulations, the calibration cycle of gas detectors should not exceed one year, and for enterprises with specialized metrology departments, it is recommended not to exceed three months. To avoid damage to the instrument, please note that the calibration of gas detectors should be carried out by professionals.
