Homeowners are all too familiar with installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every room of their home. And while it is just as important for industrial and commercial building owners to get these devices as well, they also need to consider gas detectors in San Jose, CA to monitor for toxic gases that may be present indoors.
Unfortunately, it is not as simple to select a hazardous gas detector as it is a basic smoke alarm. To make sure you determine which gas detection method will benefit your application or structure the best, contact your local gas detection experts and ask questions. Let’s get started with a short overview of some of the most common gas detector systems to help you select the most useful method for your needs:
- Sample draw extraction: To get a good gas sample from hard-to-reach places, you may consider using the sample draw gas detecting method. Areas in this category include spaces in high ceilings, down in wells or other types of pits, deep within ducts or shafts and storage areas—especially if these spaces are in the general location where hazardous chemicals are kept. The motorized pump in this device provides power to transport potentially toxic gas samples back to the sensor. It may also be configured to detect certain gases.
- Diffusion: Unlike a sample draw system, sensors on a passive diffusion device don’t use a pump to transport an airborne gas sample back to the sensor. What it does is relies on the movement of the air to bring a gas sample to its sensor. However, a diffusion sensor may not be able to be placed in tricky areas, like those mentioned in the sample draw extraction section above.
- Colormetric tape: The easiest way to describe colormetric paper or tape is that it works as a visual gas detection method via an absorbent strip of filter paper, while collecting and analyzing gas samples. This technique offers quick notification, telling you that unwanted gases are present in a certain area of your building. Colormetric tape is used to detect and measure relatively low levels of highly toxic gases and airborne substances—including ammonia, chlorine, diisocyanates and fluorine.
- Catalytic bead: This type of gas detection method is equipped with a small sensing element—so small that it’s called a bead. A catalytic bead sensor works by detecting combustible gas, which is a lower cost detection method from the gas detection group known as pellistors. Electrically heated platinum wire coils are used to pass a current through in order to reach a temperature that oxidizes gases at the bead sensor. If toxic gases are detected, you are alerted.
These are just a few types of gas detection methods available to keep your building safe from a variety of toxic gases that could present themselves at any time. Need assistance deciding which gas detectors in San Jose, CA would be best to install in your commercial building? If so, contact us at MDC Systems Inc. today!