Crowcon Detection Instruments Ltd., the Abingdon-based manufacturers of gas detection equipment, has unveiled an important innovation in fixed gas detection with the launch of the world’s first fixed detector with a Molecular Property Spectrometer ™ (MPS™) sensor.
The company has just added the Nevada Nanotech MPS™ sensor to its Xgard Bright fixed gas monitor, which is set to drive up standards in gas detection and safety, while driving down the cost of ownership.
What is MPS™ and how is it innovative?
Developed by of NevadaNano, the MPS™ sensors represent the new generation of flammable gas detectors. MPS™ can detect up to 15 flammable gases (further gas species being characterised) at once, quickly and to a very high degree of accuracy.
Until recently, anyone who needed to monitor flammable gases had to select either a traditional flame sensor detector with a pellistor calibrated for a specific gas (and multiple pellistors in multi-species environments), or an improved capability sensor using infra-red (IR) which also requires a separate sensor to be calibrated for each gas.
While these remain very helpful solutions, they are not always ideal. For example, both types of sensor require continual calibration and bump testing and pellistors may be damaged by contaminants (known as ‘sensor poisoning’) or harsh conditions. In some environments this means that sensors must be continually changed, which is costly in terms of both money and downtime.
Also, IR technology cannot detect hydrogen, and both IR and pellistor detectors sometimes incidentally detect other (i.e. non-calibrated) gases, giving inaccurate readings that may trigger false alarms.
In contrast, MPS sensors quickly detect multiple gases simultaneously with no need for in-field calibration. Because the Xgard Bright’s MPS™ sensor is precise, does not drift and does not require a correction factor, it swiftly, clearly and correctly informs the user how close the ambient gas levels are to the lower explosive limit (LEL). This is referred to as the ‘True LEL™’ reading.
What is more, MPS™ sensors cannot be poisoned and require no calibration or bump testing throughout their lifespan, which generally exceeds five years. They are self-monitoring and will automatically alert the user to any malfunction. That spares users the cost of labour, peripherals and downtime, and means that workers no longer enter hazardous areas to check on the gas detectors.
It also offers the possibility of huge savings for sectors that find pellistor sensors costly and prone to failure, but which have not, until now, had any realistic alternative.
Crowcon proud to innovate, drive sector forward
For Crowcon, becoming the first firm to incorporate MPS™ sensors into a fixed gas detector, and in doing so creating an innovative solution to multiple problems, is a matter of professional pride.
As Will Allum (Fixed Product manager) of Crowcon explains, ‘By incorporating a cutting-edge MPS sensor into the Xgard Bright, we are creating a very substantial innovation and improvement in flammable gas detection. We are proud to have evaluated and incorporated a brand new technology and put it to work in practice, for the benefit of people who need to be kept safe and the businesses that now have a genuine alternative to pellistor and IR technology.’
For more information, please visit Crowcon.com.