Sensors that detect leaks spend most of their lives exposed to little or no flammable gas. Only rarely are they needed to detect the leak, and in these moments they are useful if they can indicate the presence of a significant or unusual concentration of flammable gas. The precise concentration of the vapor cloud emanating from the leak is less important than reliable detection that such a leak has occurred.
By contrast, processes that are monitored for solvent vapor concentrations are typically enclosed, heated spaces that require an active sample drawing system. They have an intentional release of solvent at all times. In fact these processes are often optimized for speed and performance by safely releasing more solvent, not less; as they often operate near legal limits for combustible gas concentrations. An industrial dryer for printing, coating, or laminating may be designed to operate at solvent concentrations above 25% LFL.This means the precise concentration of solvent vapors must be measured with a level of accuracy that can be difficult or impossible to attain with leak detection sensors.
Are you just using leak detection when your applicaion really needs a process monitor?
Read our white paper to find out more details about using LFL/LEL Analyzers to accurately monitor your process.
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