|
Ethyl alcohol C2H5OH
also commonly called ethanol, is the principal type of
alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, produced by the fermentation
of sugars by yeasts.
Ethyl alcohol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight
chemical odor.
It is used as an antiseptic, a solvent and a
fuel.
Basics on gas monotoring
Harmful Gas
Gas monitoring of combustible gases serve to obtain alarm in case of
gas leakage.
Ethyl alcohol is a heavy explosive gas
with a flammable range from 3.3 to 19.0 vol%.
The density of the gas is 1.59. (Air = 1,0)
The detector should be mounted appr.
0.2 m above the floor.
The weight of the gas allows it to accumulate in deep points both
indoors and outdoors. Appropriate alarm levels
can be determined from case to case, but outdoors, we recommend
level 1 to 10% of LEL and level 2 to 20% of LEL.
Information
on LEL och explosion hazard
Alarm level 1 should result in control measures while alarm level 2 should be regarded as an emergency alarm.
When forwarding alarms to local emergency services, we recommend
using two detectors at alarm level 2 in order to avoid false alarms.
Alarm level 2 should result in flashlight and/or sirene at the gas
alarm plate.
Flashlight should be used for alarm level 1.
Outdoor Gas Monitoring
Since recommendations on monitoring always depend on the
circumstances in the various specific cases, one must always
evaluate the effects of gas monitoring. For
detector placement consider the following:
-
All deep areas adjacent to storage tanks,
pumps, valves, vaporizers must be investigated. Monotoring
should take place if accumulation risks in case of leakage are
considered great.
-
Placement of detectors at potential leak
areas, like tank valves should be considered. It is important to
consider the effects of weather and wind on the gasflow.
Plants have sometimes been built so that not
even strong winds could have prevented a certain accumulation of
flammable gas around the alarm object.
The advantage of creating a special alarm area is that alarms
from the gas monitoring unit can be obtained at a very early stage.
The disadvantage of creating a special
alarm area is that explosive gas concentrations can build up in here.
With no special alarm area, explosive gas concentrations might not
develop.
Choice of Equipment
The Stand-alone detector Combi is a detector
where power supply, alarm and control functions are integrated in
the detector housing. This detector is used where very simple
systems are sought and only few monitoring points are desired
|
