8 Gas Detection CoGDEM Comment - Carbon Dioxide Detection


CoGDEM is the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring, a trade association with a membership of around sixty companies involved in the gas detection industry. We are pleased to have ILM/ ETP (the publishers of this IET magazine) as an Associate Member, so we now place a regular column of news from the gas detection industry in IET magazine.


Carbon dioxide (CO2 sensing, monitoring and alarming of CO2


) is very topical within the gas detection industry at present, and the detection, are at the forefront of development within many CoGDEM


companies, often using innovative low-power infrared absorption techniques. In recent years, the true toxicity of CO2


in the workplace has been identifi ed and publicised, including


articles in IET by HSE and others. For example, it was common practice in the alcohol brewing and distilling process industry just twenty years ago to monitor oxygen defi ciency as the only means of protecting workers from exposure to excessive CO2


very slightly depressed by the time a CO2 STEL). These levels indicate that CO2


the CO2 concentration exceeded Workplace Exposure Limits. In the UK the HSE’s EH40 document shows the WELs for CO2


commonplace in relevant industries. A recent announcement from the UK Government has brought CO2


. However, it had to be pointed out that oxygen levels may only be to be 0.5% (8-hour LTEL) and 1.5% (15-minute


is a toxic gas in its own right, not just an asphyxiant when it displaces enough oxygen. Carbon dioxide detection instruments using these alarm thresholds have become back into the headlines. ‘Carbon capture and storage’ (CCS) is a technique to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to atmosphere by trapping


from large scale industrial processes such as fossil-fuelled power stations and refi neries, ‘storing’ it permanently in huge underground voids, both natural and man-made. CCS is recognised globally as a useful technique to help deal with climate change, but the process itself involves obvious diffi culties when transporting and storing large volumes of pressurised toxic gas. CO2


In smaller scale combustion appliances, CO2 extremely low air-change rates can see CO2


production represents a real hazard if the fumes are not dealt with properly. A soon to be released report is likely to show that modern domestic housing with levels exceed workplace exposure limits. This can also be the case in schools and colleges, and CO2


monitoring is now a technique recognised within guidance


documents for checking the effi cacy of ventilation arrangements. Hand-held inspection instruments compliant with EN 50543 are used for surveying work, and some of the new generation of Flue Gas Analysers have direct reading CO2


sensors fi tted. Fixed detection equipment can be linked to air intake controllers to keep the ambient environment within agreed limits. Commercial catering establishments, whether restaurant kitchens or food processing factories also can see enhanced CO2 is also used to warn of the leakage of CO2


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concentrations in the ambient air within the breathing zone of workers, and it is a


legal requirement that gas burners and cookers can only be used if the ventilation fans are switched on and actively extracting the unwanted products of combustion. In many cases it is now acceptable to use permanently installed CO2


monitors as part of the ‘interlocking’ equipment, so that energy-intensive fans can be on ‘tick-over’ unless the concentration exceeds set limits. Similar detection equipment from tanks and storage cylinders in pub cellars and fast-food outlets where it used in the carbonation of fi zzy drinks. Bulk CO2


equipped with personal monitors, as there have been exposure incidents when pipe connections are faulty. 37350pr@reply-direct.com


Great Potential Inside Small Dimensions


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Even smaller, even stronger – this is how we might describe the new LRM-254 detector by InfraTec (Germany) in just a few words. This miniaturised four- channel detector in TO39 housing, with an aperture of only fi ve millimeters, has just expanded the product range of the Dresden manufacturer, InfraTec.


A mere glance at its appearance gives clues about this sensor’s fi rst unique feature. In the cap where conventional multi channel detectors have sensitive narrow bandpass channel fi lters with special adhesive mounted, a central window has been added in the detector cap instead. This signifi cantly more robust broadband fi lter, e.g. made of sapphire, offers substantially better protection against penetrating moisture. It can also be soldered to the housing to create a complete hermetic seal.


The channel fi lters are now placed inside the detector instead. There, they are shielded from mechanical and physical stress, as well as from other strains from harsh environments – and they are also located even closer to the pyroelectric elements. The reduction of this distance and the central window integrated into the detector cap are two of the factors that ensure that the fi eld of view (FOV) is now signifi cantly wider. At the same time, all elements are placed closer together inside the detector. This allows more radiation to reach the pyroelectric element and therefore a higher signal. In addition, since the optical correspondence of the individual channels remains consistently low, the LRM-254 proves to be extremely powerful.


The new detector is an example of an innovative product line, and one that provides users with additional possibilities for the use of sensors. The compact, miniaturised construction allows for more analysis channels with unchanged detector size. Or, the same number of channels can be integrated into signifi cantly smaller packages.


This space saving and robust design will especially appeal to users who want to integrate sensors in mobile devices. In the fi elds of gas and fl ame sensor technology, this increasingly compact periphery plays a crucial role. With the LRM-254, which even can be thermally compensated due to its minimised stack design, you now have important new fl exibility thanks to the latest developments by InfraTec.


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4507ad@reply-direct.com IET January / February 2016 www.envirotech-online.com


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37411pr@reply-direct.com delivery drivers are now commonly producing companies are


being encouraged to come up with innovative schemes and a £1billion competition had been launched by the UK Government, but it was announced in November 2015 that the ring-fenced money will no longer be available. As a direct result of this decision, some major projects have already been cancelled.


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