What is a Combustible Gas Detector and How Does it Work?

Combustible gas detection is a necessity to ensure safety of personnel working in hazardous or dangerous environments. Combustible and explosive gas accumulation, due to leaks or process irregularities, can not only endanger factory workers, but also the adjacent population. Whether it is a manufacturing plant, refinery, or other industrial facility, keeping workers safe is always a top priority.

Hanwei Electronics offers an extensive line of quality combustible gas detection products specifically designed to assure your working environment are a safe place. Products include portable and fixed gas detectors, it’s crucial to have an understanding of why they work so well in a variety of situations.
View BX616 Portable 4 Gas Detector

Catalytic and Infrared Sensor Technology
Catalytic sensors represent a large number of gas detector devices that are manufactured today. This technology is used to detect combustible gases such as hydrocarbon, and works via catalytic oxidation. The sensors of this type of detector are typically constructed from a platinum treated wire coil. As a combustible gas comes into contact with the catalytic surface, it is oxidized and the wiring resistance is changed by heat that is released. A bridge circuit is typically used to indicate the resistance change.
View BS03 Fixed Gas Detector

Infrared sensors work via a system of transmitters and receivers to detect combustible gases, specifically hydrocarbon vapors. Typically, the transmitters are light sources and receivers are light detectors. If a gas is present in the optical path, it will interfere with the power of the light transmission between the transmitter and receiver. The altered state of light determines if and what type of gas is present.

Alarm Systems
Safety is our number one priority. If a gas detector finds unusually high levels of gas present, it triggers an alert to notify anyone who is close by. To accomplish this, a combustible gas detector is often equipped with multiple types of alarm systems, allowing it to be effective in many different work environments. The alert itself could be either visual or auditory, or both.

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