Crowcon - Detecting Gas Saving Lives
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Refinery and
Petrochemical
Industry

Introduction

Oil and gas is the world’s biggest industrial sector, in terms of both value generation and employment opportunity. It generates billions of dollars globally and employs hundreds of thousands of workers worldwide. Some oil companies’ revenue exceeds that of some nations’ GDP.

Closely linked to oil and gas, the petrochemicals industry takes raw materials from refining and gas processing and, through chemical process technologies, converts them into valuable products. In this sector, the organic chemicals produced in the largest volumes are methanol, ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX). These chemicals are the building blocks of many consumer goods including plastics, clothing fabric, construction materials, synthetic detergents and agrichemical products.

The oil and gas industry generates many workplace hazards, and management of these is critical to maintain a high level of safety and protect both people and assets. All electrical equipment must be certified according to IEC60079-0, for use in explosive atmospheres that contain flammable gases or dusts. Approval may take months and many rounds of submission. What is more, in addition to hazardous area approval, individual countries will require local certification such as Inmetro, Kosha and CCC.

The oil and gas industry can be further divided into:

Upstream
Midstream
Downstream

Gas Hazards in Refinery and Petrochemical Sector

Process Area

Typical processes and associated gas detection issues

Upstream

Fixed and portable gas detectors are needed to protect plant and personnel from the risks of flammable gas releases (commonly methane) as well as from high levels of H2S, particularly from sour wells. Gas detectors for O2 depletion, SO2 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are required items of personal protection equipment (PPE), which is usually highly visible colour and worn near breathing space. Key requirements for gas detectors are rugged and reliable design and long battery life. Models with design elements that support easy fleet management and compliance obviously have an advantage. You can read about VOC risk and Crowcon’s solution in our case study .

Midstream

Fixed monitoring of flammable gases situated close to pressure relief devices, filling and emptying areas is necessary to deliver early warning of localised leaks. Multigas portable monitors must be used to maintain personal safety, especially during work in confined spaces and supporting hot work permit area testing. Infrared technology in flammable gas detection supports purging with the ability to operate in inert atmospheres and delivers reliable detection in areas where pellistor type detectors would fail, due to poisoning or volume level exposure. You can read more on how infrared detection works in our blog and read our case study of infrared monitoring in refinery settings in Southeast Asia.

Portable laser methane detection (LMm) allows users to pin-point leaks at distance and in hard-to-reach areas, reducing the need for personnel to enter potentially dangerous environments or situations while performing routine or investigative leak monitoring. Using LMm is a quick and effective way to check areas for methane with a reflector, from up to 100m away. These areas include closed buildings, confined spaces and other difficult-to-reach areas such as above-ground pipelines that are near water or behind fences. Read more about LMm in our news release.

Downstream

In downstream refining, personal detectors must have a bump testing station, to ensure each detector responds to the target gas and that its alarm is still functional. The ongoing demand to reduce facility down-time whilst ensuring safety, especially during shutdown and turnaround operations, means that gas detection manufacturers must deliver solutions offering ease of use, straightforward training and reduced maintenance times, along with local service and support.

During plant shutdown, processes are stopped, items of equipment are opened and checked and the number of people and moving vehicles at the site is many times higher than normal. Many of the processes undertaken will be hazardous and require specific gas monitoring. For example, welding and tank cleaning activities require area monitors as well as personal monitors to protect those on site.

Products Refinery and Petrochemical

Portable Monitors
Gas-Pro

A multi gas detector offering 5 gas support as well as a dedicated pre-entry check mode and optional pump feature

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Clip SGD

Industrial single gas detector designed for use in hazardous areas

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Gas-Pro IR

A personal multi–gas monitor that can detect methane, pentane or propane using infrared (IR) technology

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Detective+

Multi-gas monitor for temporary areas

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Gasman

A compact and fully ruggedised single gas detector for the toughest of industrial environments

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T4

Portable 4-in-1 gas detector with new sensor technologies

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Gas-Pro TK

Ideal for flammable gas detection at any concentration

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Gas-Pro PID

Full flexibility to monitor a wide range of gas types and volatile organic compounds

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Fixed Monitors
Xgard

Fixed multi gas detector

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Xgard Bright

Addressable fixed head detector with OLED display

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XgardIQ

Sil2 certified, versatile and transmitter compatible fixed detector available with alarm and fault relays

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IRMax

An ultra-compact infrared (IR) fixed gas monitor that delivers rapid, fail-safe detection of hydrocarbon gases and vapours

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Fgard IR3 Flame Detector

An explosion proof multi spectrum IR flame detector with heated optics for cleared results

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SMART S-MS 3A

SIL-2 detector for heavy industries.

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SMART 3G-C2

SIL-2 detector for various industrial applications

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SMART 3G-D2

SIL-2 detector with display for various industrial applications

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SMART 3G-D3

SIL-2 detector with display for zone 2 applications

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Control Panels
Addressable Controllers

Local non-intrusive operation & display with simultaneous live reading display and alarm functions via colour LCD display

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Vortex

Our most flexible gas controller package

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Gasmonitor

A flexible 19″ rack-based microprocessor-controlled unit that can monitor up to 16 gas detection monitors or 32 fire zones per rack

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Multiscan++S2

SIL-2 control panel compatible with up to 256 detectors

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Industry Insights

BLOG
The importance of gas detection in the Petrochemical Industry

Closely linked to oil and gas, the petrochemicals industry takes raw materials from refining and gas processing and, through chemical process technologies, converts them into valuable products.

Read now
CASE STUDY
Gas Pro TK: Saving lives in a Southeast Asian refinery

One of Southeast Asia’s largest refineries now specifies Gas-Pro TK detectors to check for combustible gases before workers enter potentially hazardous confined spaces.

Read more
WHITE PAPER
Flame Detection Solutions - Meeting the Needs of Each Environment

The focus of this white paper is the importance of flame detection in the heavy industry. It will explore the variety of reasons why flame detection technology is of paramount importance to ensure the safety of those working within environments.

Download