Portable infrared gas detector shines for oil and gas industry 12 November 2014

Gas detection specialist Crowcon has added the Gas-Pro IR infrared sensor to its Gas-Pro range, to cover methane, pentane and propane.

Richard Dunn, portables product manager at Crowcon says it is an ideal detector for the oil and gas industry.

"The Gas-Pro IR detects potentially explosive gases in conditions where a [traditional] pellistor-based catalytic sensor may struggle, especially in a low oxygen environment, as pellistors need oxygen to function," explains Dunn.

"Also, in some industrial environments, pellistor sensors are at particular risk of being poisoned or inhibited so leaving workers on their shift unprotected," he continues.

"In such environments, use of IR technology sensors significantly enhances safety and saves the cost of regular pellistor sensor replacement."

Similarly, infrared also gives improved reliability over conventional pellistor-based sensor systems:

Dunn suggests that with applications such as fuel storage tanks, where an inert gas has been flushed through prior to maintenance, the low oxygen environment (typically, under 5%) means a pellistor-based sensor could not be relied on to test the level of fuel vapour.

He also makes the point that pellistor-based sensors may be poisoned by low levels (parts per million) of contaminants, such as silicone or lead.

Other compounds can also inhibit them for example hydrogen sulphide, which is a particular threat in the oil and gas industry.

An IR sensor, by contrast, measures gas using two wavelengths: one that absorbing the gas, the other not and acting as a reference.

This allows for easy measurement and high sensitivity to gases.

Gas-Pro IR measures in %LEL – standing for lower explosive limit. It has also been certified for use in hazardous areas as defined by both ATEX/IECEx and UL.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Crowcon Detection Instruments Ltd

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