Gas detectors are there to save your life, whether it is a fixed system or a portable detector, keeping them well maintained is an important part of ownership.
Our guest blogger this week, Julian, has put together simple steps to ensure your gas detector is up for the job as and when it’s required.
Continue reading “The simple steps to looking after your gas detection equipment this winter.”
The nature of gas hazards posed by some working environments can be complex and complete protection is not available from a single solution. This week, our guest blogger, Richard, takes a look at VOCs: how they pose a hazard and what we can do to protect against them.
After last week’s comparative levity, this week, I am discussing something rather more serious.
When it comes to detecting hydrocarbons, we often don’t have a cylinder of target gas available to perform a straight calibration, so we use a surrogate gas and cross calibrate. This is a problem because pellistor’s give relative responses to different flammable gases at different levels. Hence, with a small molecule gas like methane a pellistor is more sensitive and gives a higher reading than a heavy hydrocarbon like kerosene.
Continue reading “Cross Calibration of Pellistor (Catalytic Flame) Sensors‡”
A common question we encounter at Crowcon is when to use a pump or aspirator with a portable gas detection device. I’d like to share some thoughts about the use of personal detectors with pumps or aspirators as part of an effective confined space pre-entry check.
Following on from last week’s article, ‘Why do I need to bump test my instrument?’, I thought I’d give you a little more detailed information about what is a bump test and how to carry one out.
There are lots of reasons why a portable gas detector may not react to gas, some of which may not be obvious when you pick up a unit. The safest way to make sure your gas monitor is working is to ‘bump’ test it.
Continue reading “Why do I need to bump test my instrument?”
