Monitoring atmospheric emissions from petrochemical industries using low-level solid state sensors
- Tracor Atlas, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Low level solid state sensors provide an inexpensive alternative to monitoring part per billion levels of pollution over wide areas on a continuous basis. Solid state sensors such as those manufactured by Tracer Atlas for hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans are commonly applied in personnel protection applications, to monitor for and warn against high levels of certain toxic gases. Although these devices are not precision analytical instruments, with the proper configuration and electronics they can give reliable indication of the presence at the part per billion level of certain polluting gases. These sensors are sufficiently stable so that a general idea of pollutant level at any given time can be established. The configuration, operation and application of sensors sensitive to hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans are discussed in particular. Sensitivity, repeatability, and measurement range is also addressed. In low level applications, solid state sensors would be used as perimeter monitors around plants where there might be low level emissions of a pollutant gas that would need to be monitored on a continuous basis. Connecting a distributed group of sensors to an intelligent data gathering system such as a personal computer can allow spatial distributions in time and time weighted averages of pollutant levels to be calculated and charted.
- OSTI ID:
- 5628614
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-880348-
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: American Institute of Chemical Engineers spring national meeting, New Orleans, LA (USA), 6-10 Mar 1988; Other Information: Technical Paper 55C
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
PETROCHEMICAL PLANTS
AIR POLLUTION MONITORS
THIOLS
ACCURACY
EMISSION
POLLUTANTS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL PLANTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MONITORS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
020900* - Petroleum- Environmental Aspects
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)