In more than 5 years in gas detection system I helped customers to design different gas detection systems and one of them is the wireless gas detection system.
What I found out is that most customers prefer portable or fixed gas detectors, and are usually skeptical when it comes to shift to wireless.
In this post, I will explain the wireless gas detection system, what it is, the benefits and some draw back of this gas detection system.
What is a gas detection system?
A gas detection system detects potentially harmful gases. For example, H2S can be a life threat to organic compounds, humans, and animals.
Most gas detectors are portable, but some applications require wireless gas detection.
What are wireless gas detectors?
Wireless gas detectors and wireless gas monitors are designed to monitor toxic and combustible gases in the air continuously.
Due to its wireless nature, no complex system configuration is needed. Your job is complete once you assign a unique address to the wireless gas monitor or detector.
The wireless gas detection system will collect all the necessary data information from the sensor, including the target gas type.
Historical data logging and RTU communication for PLC and DCS systems are available onboard.
Importance of Wireless gas detection systems
Rapidly deployable and fully flexible, wireless gas detection systems provide a solution that is as consistently safe and reliable as fixed gas detection networks.
Operating as a stand-alone or backup post-incident wireless gas detection solution ensures continued monitoring when traditional systems fail.
Wireless gas detection systems are ideal for established and new-build plants, mines and tunnels, rapidly changing developments, or where you are expanding your operation beyond your initial scope.
Benefits of the wireless gas detection system
Reduced Installation cost
Wireless gas detection systems do not use cables, which will massively reduce the installation cost. This includes the cost of buying the cables, transporting them to your facility, and installing them.
No more expensive cables and underground cable conduits.
No troubleshooting on the cables
One of the main issues of the wired gas detection system is troubleshooting when you do not get the desired signal.
You will need a multimeter and have to troubleshoot different parts of the installation. This will take a lot of time, and you might need to pay another company to do the job.
This issue is not present with wireless systems. Most wireless systems I worked with have an auto-diagnostic feature that detects connection issues and sends an alarm.
Damage to one unit will not lead to the destruction of the whole system
I worked on the wired systems for a long time. One issue I had is if you use Modbus RTU, for example, and have many sensors wired in a daisy chain. And accidentally, if one of the sensors has an open circuit, the whole bunch of sensors will fail to communicate.
We do not have this problem in the wireless gas detection systems; if one sensor goes bad, it will remove itself from the network, and the rest will continue communicating without any problem.
Easily add more sensors to the existing wireless network
Adding new sensors to a wired system can be complicated. There are many things to consider, such as the cable length, power drop, power sources, etc.
In the wireless gas detection system, adding a new sensor is simple. For example, if you use a mesh wireless network, you must set a network ID and a unique PAN ID and press join the network.
No complicated system configurations
Wireless gas detection systems are very easy to configure. They usually do not require complicated training and have an intuitive configuration panel.
Application of wireless gas detectors
Wireless gas detectors can be used in a lot of environments. Some of the applications of wireless gas detectors include:
- Tank forms
- Refineries
- Chemical storage
- Water & wastewater treatment
- Drilling rigs
- Offshore platforms
Do you use a wireless gas detection system at your company? If yes, let us know the challenges and benefits you have seen up to now, and if not, let us know if you’re thinking about implementing one and how we can help.
