Oxygen O2 Gas Detection – See How Crowcon Detects O2 Gas Levels
Published 23 Sep 2016
T&D, the specialist distributor of Gas Detection, Detectors & Monitoring Equipment for O2 gas detection.
Crowcon Oxygen O2 Gas Detection
O2 Oxygen Gas Detection
Watch, listen and learn how Crowcon, O2 gas detection specialists, protect people and plant from the gas risks posed by flammable and toxic gases and oxygen depletion or enrichment levels.
- Oxygen supports life with safe levels being between 19% and 23% by volume
- Over 24% oxygen, ignition of flammable materials occurs more readily
- Introduction of pure oxygen (e.g. welding) greatly heightens this safety risk
- O2 levels are reduced by dilution with other gases
- Oxygen is also consumed during combustion, rust formation and biological decay
- Gas hazards can be significantly increase if working in confined spaces
- Monitoring for O2 depletion or enrichment is vitally important across applications
- Personal and fixed gas detectors for oxygen are needed to ensure worker safety
Oxygen Depletion & Confined Spaces
Hypoxia (low physiologic oxygen content) symptoms include loss of peripheral vision and colour acuity causing panic and damaging personal coordination and judgement. Rapid onset of impaired sensory ability can seriously impact upon workers ability to implement self-rescue actions in confined space emergency situations.
Planned Oxygen Depletion: intended low oxygen levels may be unavoidable when carrying out confined space entries in the presence of flammable or explosive atmospheres in hazardous area locations. Oxygen removal eliminates the threat of the Fire Triangle. Adequate oxygen gas depletion detectors are essential to precise monitoring of low O2 levels in confined spaces in both safe (non-hazardous) and hazardous area classified work zones.
Unplanned Oxygen Depletion: often caused by equipment failure or inadequate isolation techniques. Even where entry teams have assessed confined space safety and relevant permits have been issued a previous entry team could have inadvertently introduced an inert gas into the confined space and failed to ventilate. Lethal low levels of oxygen should be detected using portable gas detectors for both permit and non-permit confined space working.
What are the causes of oxygen fires & explosions?
Main causes of fires and explosions when using oxygen are:
- oxygen enrichment from leaking equipment
- use of materials not compatible with oxygen
- use of oxygen in equipment not designed for oxygen service
- incorrect or careless operation of oxygen equipment
O2 Oxygen Gas Detection Using Crowcon T3
Crowcon Tetra 3 gas detector is widely used for confined space entry, strengthened by specialist gas options for the water, hospitality and steel industries.
Crowcon Tetra 3 multigas monitor is a compact, robust and easy-to-use diffusion based gas detector. Single button operation, small size and clear top-mounted display for working in demanding industrial environments, such as water, telecoms, food, brewing or hydrocarbons sectors. Gases include the most common four (carbon monoxide, methane, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide), but also an expanded gas range: ammonia, ozone, sulphur dioxide, H2 filtered CO (for steel plants) and IR carbon dioxide (for safe area use only).
Detecting Oxygen With Crowcon
The following table provides an overview of the Crowcon Gas Detectors available for detecting oxygen – for expert technical support and product selection guidance please call T&D Sales Engineers.
Crowcon Portable Gas Detector used by BBC Film Crew on Indonesian Volcano
A BBC film crew filming sulphur miners in the crater of an active volcano used a Crowcon (UK) Tetra 3 portable gas detector to warn them of dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S). The crew were filming in Indonesia as part of the BBC’s landmark ‘Human Planet’ series which explores mankind’s relationship with nature in the world today.
gas detection – h2s ch4 o2 co
See 3 more Crowcon Factoids ➡
Detecting Hydrogen Sulphide Gas
Flame, Heat, Gas Detectors & Detection Systems
Hazardous area industries including offshore oil/gas platforms and FPSOs, onshore oil refineries, processing plants, pipelines, storage farms and LPG/LNG plants all utilise or produce a wide range of hazardous flammable liquids and gases that can be detected using correctly specified flame and gas detectors.
Detecting toxic and flammable gases requires the detectors to be classified and certified according to the specific IECEx or ATEX standard – we distribute flame and fire detectors manufactured by Spectrex to operate in the harshest environmental conditions including self-contained stand-alone devices designed for direct connection to control and alarm systems or automatic fire extinguishing systems.
Our range of Hazardous Area Fire & Gas Detection System products also includes Explosion Proof Warning Systems & Hazardous Area Lighting – comprehensive range of intrinsically safe, flameproof and explosion proof alarm sounders, sirens, bells and horns, loudspeakers and beacons.
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Further Reading
- Crowcon Portable Gas Detectors Product Brochure Size: 267.74 KB
- Crowcon Fixed Gas Detectors Product Brochure Size: 510.79 KB
- Oxygen – Oxygen Use In The Workplace (Fire & Explosion Hazards) – HSE Document Size: 61.85 KB
- Crowcon Tetra 3 Portable Gas Detector Data Sheet Size: 144.97 KB