Selection Of Gas Detection Device Types For the Detection of Hydrocarbon Gas Releases in a Petrochemical Environment

Introduction Early detection of potentially explosive gas releases is clearly a major contribution to safety in a Petrochemical environment. From the early 60s catalytic detection has been available, point infrared and open path infrared made their debut in the early 90s. The question of which type is most suitable for which application is still a very common Present Primary Protection Devices Available There are presently three methods of detection available for the detection of Hydrocarbon gasses, these are Catalytic Detectors

Point Infrared Detectors

Open Path Infra Red Detectors

This paper sumerises the operating principles of each detection method, and provides information as to when each type would be most suitable for a particular application.

Zellweger Analytics Singapore

Phil Render January 2001

Selection Of Gas Detection Device Types For the Detection of Hydrocarbon Gas Releases in a Petrochemical Environment
Catalytic Gas Detection Catalytic detectors have the advantage of using the base property of flammable gas, namely that it will burn or Oxidise in the presence of Oxygen. This oxidation take place on the surface of the catalyst, which is a substance which helps the oxidation occur without itself being consumed. The detector consists of a small coil of platinum wire, which is coated with the catalyst, typically palladium, ruthenium or other precious metals dependant upon the manufacturer. The coil is the heat to around 400C by passing a small electrical current through it. At this temperature any flammable gas will react with the oxygen in the atmosphere and oxidize on the catalyst surface. This reaction gives off heat, which in turn alters the resistance of the platinum coil. The change in resistance is proportional to the amount of gas present. Typically a second coil is also present which is made unresponsive to gas. This coil is for compensation of small resistance changes caused by changes in the ambient temperature, pressure, humidity etc. that would otherwise be seen as gas or fault readings. The two coils are then normally housed in an explosion proof housing, with a sintered metal flashback arrestor to provide access for the gas to the detection coils and prevent the internally generated heat passing back to the outside and causing an ignition of the gas. Sensitivity to a Range of Hydrocarbons and outputs. Catalytic devices are completely non-selective any flammable gas will burn and provide an output. This output does however vary form gas to gas. The general rule is the higher the hydrocarbon the lower the output from the sensor. It is therefore vital that the sensors are calibrated for the gas they are likely to detect. Restriction of gas access to the sensors by means of placing them in cans with small holes results in an output, which for practical purposes can be regarded as linear. Non-linearity may become more pronounced with heavier hydrocarbons, so calibration with the target gas around the alarm level is advised. Advantages a) As catalytic detectors actually monitor the combustion of the flammable gas the units can be used in situations where the exact nature of the gas is no determined (subject to the earlier comments on cross sensitivity) b) Initial purchase price of the devices is lower than the other types of detectors discussed in this document. c) The basic sensor is a disposable item of simple construction and can be serviced by relatively unskilled labour. d) Catalytic sensor have been in service for a number of years and many companies are fully aware of the limitations and have introduced procedures to cope with these.

Zellweger Analytics Singapore

Phil Render January 2001

Selection Of Gas Detection Device Types For the Detection of Hydrocarbon Gas Releases in a Petrochemical Environment
Disadvantages a) Catalytic sensors have one major drawback that is that the catalyst can be poisoned (made unreactive to gas) by certain contaminants, these are Silicon compounds such as lubricants, hydrogen sulphide and halons. This results in a non failsafe situation in that no warning of the poisoning can be given, the sensor simply does not respond to gas. b) Catalytic sensors must have oxygen to function, the exact amount required depends upon the gas to be detected but a minimum of 10% should be present. This limits the device in process applications, it also means that in the event of a gas release large enough to replace the oxygen in the atmosphere around the sensor the output will fall to zero, whilst the hazardous situation clearly still exists. It should be recognized that in such cases the output would have risen beyond any normal alarm level prior to oxygen starvation. c) The zero drift in some operating conditions with changing environments can be rather high, although temperature and humidity compensation are provided if the environment changes rapidly this may result in zero drift. Regular zero checks are required to compensate for this (monthly) in critical applications, When combined with the possibility of catalytic poisoning this means regular recalibration is required resulting in a high maintenance workload. Point Infra Red gas detectors Infrared gas detectors are based on the principle that most hydrocarbon gasses (which make up the majority of the flammable gasses we are concerned to detect) absorb infra red light in the carbon hydrogen bond at specific wavelengths. This means that light from an infrared source (normally a broad spectrum bulb) falling upon a solid-state detector will be decreased by the presence of hydrocarbons. The loss of output from the detector is proportional to the concentration of gas according to the BeerLambert law. In order to compensate for changing optical conditions a second wavelength not absorbed by hydrocarbons is measured and the ratio of the two signals represents the gas reading. Quality point infra red detectors also use a second source for internal referencing of device providing much greater stability in changing climatic conditions. A quality detector should also incorporate compensation for changes in ambient temperature and pressure to achieve accuracy. The device is primarily counting the number of molecules of gas over a given distance, thus if we consider the equation PV=nRT where P=Pressure, V=Volume, n=Number of molecules, R= the gas constant, T=Temperature Since the volume is constant we get nP/T A general guide would be the % change in pressure (mbar) or temperature will equal the % change in output to a given gas concentration, i.e. a change in pressure from 1000-900 mbar would mean that a 50% LEL reading would fall to 45%LEL for the same real concentration. The device zero would remain unaffected by such changes. Sensitivity to the Gasses Measured Point infrared detectors are designed to be general hydrocarbon detectors, and use frequencies around 3.3 to detect. Most common hydrocarbons absorb at this frequency, but some modified hydrocarbons such as acetylene or heavily halogenated hydrocarbons do not. Non-hydrocarbon flammable gasses such as Hydrogen cannot be detected by the infrared principle. As with catalytic sensors cross sensitivities to a broad range of hydrocarbons exists, these will vary between different manufacturers devices. In the case of infrared detection the heavier hydrocarbon
Zellweger Analytics Singapore Phil Render January 2001

Selection Of Gas Detection Device Types For the Detection of Hydrocarbon Gas Releases in a Petrochemical Environment
Should result in greater outputs. It can be seen from the Beer-Lambert Law that the output of any infrared detector is inherently non linear. Quality devices incorporate linearisation circuits to compensate for this and produce a linear response to a broad band of gasses. Some detectors state changes in linearity above 50%LEL indicating that the design of the linearisation circuit is not optimized. Advantages a) Point infrared gas detectors overcome all of the major shortcomings of catalytic gas detectors. They do not need oxygen to function, they cannot be poisoned, and quality infrared detectors offer totally failsafe operation. In the normally operating mode of the device is light falling onto the detectors to produce the signal, failure of the sources, detectors, or obscuration of the optical path will result in a loss of signal, which can be used as a fault warning. In addition in quality detectors self-compensation circuits are employed to automatically correct for small changes in the optical components removing any drift. Quality detectors are also able to give signals indicating maintenance requirements needed whilst still functioning, removing the need for routine maintenance. b) Quality point infra red gas detectors offer an increase in response time over catalytic detectors of around 3 times. Good design of the detector can also result in increasing the speed of response with increases in wind velocity. c) Unlike catalytic detectors the device will work well in conditions of continuous exposure to gas, enabling some process application to be possible. Disadvantages a) The initial purchase cost of point infrared gas detection is higher than that of catalytic detection. b) Will not detect Hydrogen Open Path Infra Red Gas Detection The detection principle of an open path gas detector is exactly the same as that of a point infrared gas detector i.e. the absorbsion of light at a specific wavelength by hydrocarbon gasses. The major difference is that a point detector has a small fixed pathlength whereas open path detectors can go up to 200 Meters of separation. Response and Output Open path gas detectors, as with the point variety are general hydrocarbon detectors, and will respond to most general hydrocarbons. Whereas in a point detector where the path length is short, predetermined and accurate and it is reasonable to assume the gas will be of a homogeneous mixture, and it is therefore possible to insert the length of the measuring chamber into the Beer-Lambert law and obtain a reading in LEL. This however cannot be applied to open path gas detectors where the operating distance varies from unit to unit, and would assume that the gas release would be a perfectly evenly mixed cloud with a diameter up to 200 Meters. It is far more likely that the gas release would consist of a very high concentration over a small portion of the path length, with lower concentrations over the remainder. To give an average path reading may result in a situation of understating the hazard.
Zellweger Analytics Singapore Phil Render January 2001

Selection Of Gas Detection Device Types For the Detection of Hydrocarbon Gas Releases in a Petrochemical Environment
The output is therefore expressed in LEL Meters, where 1 LEL Meter is defined as 100% LEL over 1 Meter of the path, the same result and output would occur for 50% LEL over 2 Meters, 25% LEL over 4 Meters, 12.5% LEL over 8 Meters etc. It can therefore be seen that that an open path gas detector will give an alarm output for a high concentration of a short part of the path length or a diluted cloud over a large portion of the path. Advantages a) Open path infra red gas detectors offer the user the same advantages as point infra red gas detectors in that they are, totally failsafe, fast speed of response, maintenance signals are available on some detectors to request maintenance whist still functioning removing the need for routine maintenance. b) The use of a long path length means that releases are more likely to be detected as the gas can pass through the beam at any point with the same result. It is possible to miss a high-pressure jet type release with point detectors unless they are closely spaced (BP/Amoco recommend 5 meters offshore) which may result an uneconomic solution. c) The ability to detect both small high concentration releases and dispersed low concentration releases gives open path a distinct advantage over point detectors in some applications, with an alarm a 1 LEL meter the open path would alarm at 0.8% LEL for a release over the whole path length. This would represent a high concentration release somewhere upwind of the open path detector but would be way below the alarm level of a point detector. Disadvantages a) Interference from other IR sources, this was a problem in some early models but has now been totally overcome by quality devices. Choose a Xenon flash source type transmitter and receiver combination, which the manufacture will guarantee will be solar immune. Avoid reflective types as these have been shown over time to be unable to cope with adverse weather i.e. heavy rain, mists etc. Be aware some models offered in the market use detection frequencies around 3.3 microns, this frequency is very close to a large water absorption band in the infrared spectrum and can lead to unwanted alarms. b) Initial purchase cost, this may appear high compared with point devices, however when one considers the area of coverage, reduced installation and I/O costs the devices can compare very well. c) The device must have a clear line of sight. Siting Detectors Extract from infrared beam detectors on BP offshore sites (Mr. R Bonn BP Aberdeen) The challenge of siting detectors is to predict where the gas will go instead of trying to predict where it could leak. On the whole this is a much easier task, the gas will go with the flow. The airflows which will carry the gas tend to occur in open unobstructed areas of the plant, just the right areas with a clear line of sight to fit open path detectors. This results in a design philosophy of Point Infra red gas detectors in congested parts of the facility where gas may be trapped for some time. Open Path infrared gas detectors in open areas and areas of major airflow.

Zellweger Analytics Singapore

Phil Render January 2001

Selection Of Gas Detection Device Types For the Detection of Hydrocarbon Gas Releases in a Petrochemical Environment
The Selection of Flammable Gas Detectors Whilst it is clearly impossible to lay down absolute rules on the selection of devices for any given application, it is possible to give some pointers to which is the most suitable technology for the detection of flammable gas releases.

Catalytic Gas Detectors Low initial capital expenditure No catalytic poisons present Easy access for maintenance Readily available maintenance Well-defined leak sources or areas of accumulation Gas present infrequently Point Infra Red Gas Detectors Initial purchase less important than cost of ownership High system availability and integrity required Low maintenance required Catalytic poisons present Possibly low oxygen levels Well-defined leak sources or areas of accumulation Open Path Infra Red Gas Detection Initial purchase cost less important than cost of ownership High system integrity and availability required Area monitoring or a large number of potential leak sites Leak points not defined, rapid dispersion of the gas by high air velocities, high-pressure jet type leakage possible. Need to detect all significant leakages whether large concentrations or low dispersed concentrations. Summary Each of the types of detectors offers the potential user different benefits, the selection of the device type should be to suit the application. In practice combinations of the devices will probably provide the greatest possible safety.

Zellweger Analytics Singapore

Phil Render January 2001