Abstract
It is important in the petrochemical industry that there are high sensitivity, high accuracy, low-power consumption and intrinsically safe methods for the detection of propane, butane and their gas mixtures, to provide early warning of potential explosion hazards during both storage and transportation of oil and gas. This paper proposes a ‘proof of principle’ method for the detection of propane and butane using a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) technique over the near-infrared wavelength range from 1678nm to 1686nm. This method is relatively inexpensive to implement and is thus more practical, compared with detection methods using wavelengths further into the infra-red, near 3.3μm. The minimum detectable concentration was found to be low as 300ppm for propane or butane. Importantly, the relative measurement errors were all below 3% LEL, which meets the requirements from the petrochemical and oil-gas storage and transportation industries for a field-based system for monitoring of combustible gases.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundBoth propane and butane are colorless and combustible and a major explosion hazard exists when propane/butane gas mixtures meet open flames or sparks[1]
It is difficult to find obvious ‘standalone’ absorption peaks to use to allow the calculation of the component concentrations because this is a part of the overall absorption spectrum and what is worse, for the propane/butane gas mixture, the absorption spectra of propane and butane severely overlap with each other
The relative measurement errors were all below 3% Lower Explosion Limit (LEL), which meets the requirements from the petrochemical and oil-gas storage and transportation industries for a field-based system for monitoring of combustible gases
Summary
This is the published version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. To cite this article: Yin Wang et al 2018 J. Ser. 1065 252006 View the article online for updates and enhancements
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
