International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012

Embedded Control System for LPG Leak Detection and Prevention

Sunithaa.J, Sushmitha.D
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology
j.sunithaa@yahoo.in , sushmithadhanapal@gmail.com

Abstract
The design of a wireless LPG leakage monitoring system is proposed for home safety. The system detects the leakage of the LPG and alerts the consumer about the leak and as an emergency measure the system will switch on the exhaust fan and also checks the leakage. An added feature of the system is that the approximate consumption is indicated interms of the total weight. The proposed system makes use of GSM module in order to alert about the gas leakage via an SMS. Whenever the system detects the increase in the concentration of the LPG it immediately alerts by activating an alarm and simultaneously sending message to the specified mobile phones. The exhaust fan is switched on and an LPG safe solenoid valve fitted to the cylinder is given a signal to close avoiding further leakage. The device ensures safety and prevents suffocation and explosion due to gas leakage. Keywords: gas cylinder monitoring, gas leakage detection, gas leakage detection and prevention

indication, buzzer and an SMS sent to the stored numbers with the help of GSM. The device is designed for use in homes which use Liquefied Petroleum Gas or natural gas; however it can be used in industries and other applications involving the gas cylinders.

II.

COMPONENTS AND CONSTRUCTION

The system proposed consists of three major modules namely, leakage detection module, GSM module with PIC microcontroller, protection circuitry. It uses Microchips PIC 16F877A, which is an 8 bit microcontroller. It finds wide application due to its features and low cost. The block diagram of the proposed system is shown in figure 1.
Power Supply Unit GSM Module

I.

INTRODUCTION

The liquefied petroleum gas is finding wide usage in homes, industries and in automobiles as fuel because of its desirable properties which include high calorific value, produces less soot, produces very less smoke and does not cause much harm to the environment. Natural gas is another widely used fuel in homes. Both burn to produce clean energy, however there is a serious threat about their leakage. The gases being heavier than air do not disperse easily and may lead to suffocation when inhaled; also the leaked gases when ignited may lead to explosion. The number of deaths due to the explosion of gas cylinders has been increasing in recent years. There is a need for a system to detect and also prevent leakage of LPG. The proposed system uses a MQ5 gas sensor which can detect different combustible gases with low cost, and a PIC microcontroller to alert when the levels of gas detected is beyond safety limit and also to take emergency measures including switching on of the exhaust fan and then close the solenoid valve.The alert mechanism in the proposed system includes an LED

Audio-Visual Alarm Load Cell Circuitry

PIC 16F877A Microcontroller

LCD Display

Relay Driving Circuit

Relay Driving Circuit

Exhaust Fan

LPG Safe Solenoid Valve

Fig 1: Block diagram of embedded control system for LPG leak detection and prevention

The leakage detection module consists of the MQ-5 gas sensor and the associated circuitry to detect the amount of

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology

International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012 combustible gas present in the surrounding .The consumer even when they are away from home . An sensitivity of the gas sensor can be adjusted using audio-visual alarm including the buzzer and LEDs are external circuitry. The sensor is insensitive to air. The provided to immediately alert the people at home. output of sensor module is connected to ADC of the PIC microcontroller. The microcontroller digitises the voltage and checks if the concentration is within safe levels.
If the concentration of the combustible gases is beyond safe levels (the safety level is programmable) the microcontroller immediately activates an alarm and the LEDs and then sends alert SMS about leakage to the stored numbers via GSM. The PIC microcontroller is interfaced with the load cell to implement additional functionality of displaying the weight of the cylinder and show an approximation of the percentage of total weight using an LCD display. Fig 2 Gas Sensor Module A. GAS LEAK DETECTION AND GSM MODULE The main function of the detection module is to detect changes in concentration of combustible gas and activate an audio-visual alarm and send an SMS to the consumer. A solid state gas sensor MQ5 is used. Tin di oxide SnO2 is the sensitive material of MQ-5 gas sensor, this has lower conductivity in clean air but when the target combustible gas exists in the environment, the sensors conductivity increases, resistance of sensor changes with the concentration of combustible gases. Figure 2 shows the gas leakage sensing circuitry. A simple electronic circuit can be used to convert the change in resistance to change in terms of concentration of combustible gases.MQ-5 gas sensor has high sensitivity to Methane, LPG and coal gas. Low cost and long life are the advantages of using this sensor. For the sensor to function properly the sensor needs to be heated for specific amount of time called the preheat time. The sensor works with 5volt power supply. The resistance of the sensor is given by equation(1) Rs=(Vc/VRL-1)RL where Rs is the sensor resistance Vc is the supply voltage to load cell VRL is the voltage across load resistance RL is the load resistance The GSM module is used to send short messages about the possibility of gas leak and as an added feature indicate that it may be due to book a refill cylinder or can program the device to automatically book the cylinder via SMS. Any number of mobile numbers can be included to which SMS must be sent about the above mentioned details. This wireless module is used to alert the (1) As added feature indication about the approximate weight of the cylinder is given as full, medium or empty. This measurement is done by interfacing a load cell with microcontroller. The load cell will produce an analog voltage corresponding to the change in weight this is in terms of milli volts a suitable circuitry is used to amplify and filter this analog voltage and given as input to the 10 bit ADC (successive approximation type) This will be displayed in a Liquid Crystal Display interfaced with the microcontroller. If found empty an indication SMS will be sent to the consumer also the device can be programmed to automatically book after specified amount of time. The PIC 16F877A microcontroller forms the heart of the entire system controlling all processes that take place. A real time clock can be interfaced to display the current date and time in the LCD display.

B. PROTECTION CIRCUITRY The protection circuitry consists of the exhaust fan, an LPG safe solenoid valve and the associated PIC microcontroller interfaces. Suitable driver circuits have to be designed for activating the valve and exhaust fan using relays. An additional inverter may be required to interface domestic exhauster so that it can operate in parallel with it even during power failure and eliminates need for two exhaust fans. Whenever the level of combustible gas is beyond safe levels the PIC will switch on the exhaust fan so that the gases are sent out. A point to note is that exhaust fan does not produce spark, so it is absolutely safe. This is followed by energising the normally open LPG safe solenoid valve so that it is closed and no more gas leaks. Mostly the condition will be back to normal but the exhaust fan will remain on to ensure safety.

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology

International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012 III. SYSTEM OPERATION V. CONCLUSION
The sensor can be adjusted for sensitivity by varying the load resistance of the sensor circuitry. The gas sensor requires 5 volts supply and the excitation voltage of the load cell module must be suitably adjusted to get the correct output. The PIC is programmed for the required device operation and the system will be ready for use. Figure 3 shows the working model of the entire system. The device can not only be used for home security systems but also can be used in industries and other places to detect gas leaks and alert people, apart from taking required safety measures. For simpler and cost effective systems an RF transmitter and receiver system can also be used but the coverage area will be limited.

REFERENCES IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION [1] John Peatman , Design with PIC Microcontrollers, 1st Edition,
Prentice Hall. [2] Luay Friwan,Khaldon Lweesy,Aya Bani-Salma,Nour Mani , A Wireless Home Safety Gas Leakage Detection System, IEEE 2011. [3] Hanwei Electronics Co. Ltd, MQ 5 sensor Datasheet [4] Microchip Inc., PIC 16F877A datasheet T. Iseki, H. Tai, and K. Kimura, "A portable remote methane sensor using a tunable diode laser," Meas. Sci. Technol.,Vol. 11, pp. 594602, 2000. [5] W. Chung, and D. Lee, "Real time muti-channel gas leak monitoring system using CPLD chip," Sensors and Actuators B, Vol. 77, pp. 186189, 2001. [6] Rajkamal,Embedded Systems:Architecture,Programming Design,Tata McGraw-Hill Education and

The prototype of the system was constructed and tested by introducing small amount of LPG near the sensor module. The system could detect the gas and send SMS and also activate the audio-visual alarm.The sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted by changing the value of load resistance.

Fig 3 : Working model of the proposed system

The system can be further enhanced by using a RealTime clock to display the date and time and also a temperature sensor that detects sudden rise in temperature due to other sources that may be hazardous. The temperature sensor can be used to display the temperature and alert when too high or low temperatures are reached.

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology