Reference materials for combustible gas detectors in the petrochemical industry?
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Recently, I’ve encountered several Sinopec projects in which the client’s drawings specified that propane or isobutane should be used as the calibration gas for the combustible gas detectors. Some projects even specified an infrared-based detection principle. Although the current CCC certification standards for combustible gases require the use of methane, propane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide as calibration gases, almost all combustible gas detectors purchased in the past were calibrated using methane. I don’t have much experience in the petrochemical industry. I would like to ask those who are familiar with this sector on the forum: do combustible gas detectors used in the petrochemical industry necessarily need to be calibrated using propane? Is the infrared principle used in all sectors of the petrochemical industry?
It is specified that the testing medium should be calibrated using the actual gas to be tested; for general use, isobutane is typically used for calibration.
We generally use butane as the testing gas
The detector should be calibrated using the same medium that it is designed to detect; for example, a hydrogen sulfide alarm device needs to be calibrated with hydrogen sulfide. Ammonia gas alarm, calibrated using ammonia gas. Our factory uses the same medium for calibration as that which is being tested; for hydrogen sulfide, the principle involved is electrochemical, while for flammable gases, it is catalytic combustion.