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Reducing risk with
Exposure Monitoring
Equipment
What we know
What we don’t know
What we must assume
What we must never assume
Components of risk assessment
What is the conclusion of risk assessment?
The definition of acceptable risk
PID and LEL monitors
Do they keep you safe?
These machines are DUMB!
The value displayed is a
TOTAL concentration of
all DETECTED
compounds AS IF (selected compound)
Indicative at best
Calibrate to Chocolate: Display 500 Chocolate
Display Vanilla (response factor 8): 4000 Vanilla
Display Cake (response factor 0.002): 1 Cake
300 Chocolate (RF 1)
200 Flour (RF 0.25)
200 Sugar (RF 0.47)
6 Cocoa (RF 1.16)
150 Sunflower oil (RF 0.1)
300 Soured cream (RF 0.08)
2 Egg (RF N/A)
1 Vanilla Extract (RF 8)
PID : Photo Ionisation Detector
Broad spectrum
Sensitive
Non destructive
Low cost
Cannot see smaller/lighter compounds e.g. methane
UV Lamp ionises the gas sample. The free electrons are then
counted and this value is converted and displayed as gas concentration (typically in ppm).
LEL and close space monitors
Lower Explosive Limit
Catalytic diffusion sensor burns
available volatiles and converts
the energy value to display %LEL
Broad spectrum
Low cost
Can detect smaller/lighter compounds (methane)
O2
H2S
CO
LEL
%VOL - %LEL - PPM EXAMPLE: Pentane
1%VOL―75%LEL―10,000ppm
1%LEL―0.13%VOL―133ppm
1ppm―0.0075%LEL―0.0001%VOL
Typical resolution for LEL monitors 1.0%LEL
Typical resolution for PID 1ppm
Best resolution for PID 1PPB!
Correction factors: Calibration gas and Action alarms
Correction factors are not absolute
Sensor type/manufacturer
Calibration gas:
Pentane/Methane?
Isobutylene?
Are alarms preset?
Is this arbitrary?
Other factors
Weather conditions
Sensor inhibitors: Methane, Nitrogen, Carbon monoxide
Sensor poisoning: Silicones
Sensor reaction time: Pentane/methane
Personal proximity
ZERO
Nominal drift
Who do you trust?
Warm up period
Ambient or absolute?
Carbon filter
Bump testing and Calibration Ensure adequate warm up period
Pump stall test
Bump test first
Potential issues: No gas,
blocked regulator, cold machine,
contaminated filters, incorrect
gas selection
When to calibrate?
Potential issues: as above
Gain?
Are these machines DUMB?
It is not the tools we use
which make us good, but
rather how we employ
them.
These tools help you to
redefine the risk and
revaluate your own
acceptable risk