What gases can a gas detector detect?
Gas detector is an instrument tool for detecting gas leakage concentration, mainly referring to portable gas detectors. It mainly detects the types of gases present in the environment through gas sensors. There are different types of gas sensors, some manufactured by chemical principles and some manufactured by physical principles. Different sensors are used for different gas reactions, allowing gas detectors to detect different gases. So, what gases can gas detectors detect? In daily work, gas detectors are often needed to detect three main types of gases: flammable gases, toxic gases, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
1, Combustible gas
Combustible gases are commonly encountered in the use of gas detectors. The concept of combustible gases refers to gases that can be uniformly mixed with air (or oxygen) within a certain concentration range to form a premixed gas. When exposed to a fire source, it will explode and release a large amount of energy during the combustion process. Such gases are commonly present in the working environment of industries such as petrochemicals and chemical manufacturing. Common combustible gases include hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10), ethylene (C2H4), propylene (C3H6), butene (C4H8), acetylene (C2H2), propyne (C3H4), butyne (C4H6), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), phosphine (PH3), and so on. Our gas detectors are capable of detecting the combustible gases mentioned above. Some gas detectors only detect one type of gas, while others can detect multiple types of gases. When choosing a gas detector to detect flammable gases, we need to choose based on our on-site environment. If our working environment is relatively simple and there is only one single gas, then we choose a single gas detector. However, in the real working environment, it is very complex. We often encounter situations where several gases are mixed, such as liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, gas, etc., all of which contain several flammable gases. At this time, we need a multi in one composite gas detector. With this detector, we can detect which combustible gas has a high content in those mixed gases, thereby avoiding the danger of combustion and explosion.
2, Toxic gas
Toxic gases refer to gases that are harmful to the human body and can cause poisoning. They are mainly divided into irritant gases (referring to gases that can irritate the eyes and respiratory mucosa) and suffocating gases (referring to toxic gases that can cause oxygen deficiency in the body). Suffocating gases can be divided into pure suffocating gases, blood suffocating gases, and cell suffocating gases. These gases can directly harm the human body and are also very dangerous. Common toxic gases include carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), chlorine (CL2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and so on. When gas detectors detect toxic gases, we usually quantify them through several levels:
1. TWA: 8-hour weighted average concentration, usually sampled every 15 minutes. Personnel working in an environment below this concentration for 8 hours will not affect their health.
2. STEL: 15 minute weighted average concentration, usually sampled every 5 minutes. Personnel staying in an environment below this concentration for 15 minutes will not cause irreparable harm.
3. IDLH: Concentration that poses an immediate threat to life and health, sometimes referred to as an immediate lethal dose. Personnel will immediately die or lose their ability to escape at this concentration.
4. MAC: Maximum allowable concentration. In an environment below this concentration, workers engaged in production labor for a long time will not cause any acute or chronic occupational hazards.
