Many oil and gas installations, especially oil rigs and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, are located in areas with harsh weather conditions, such as in the North Sea or Alaska.
Although a different area of the world, similar tough surroundings are faced at the other end of the spectrum where there is extreme sunlight and high temperatures coupled with occasional sand storms.
In all of these locations, and many other industrial areas, there is a variety of background IR or UV radiation sources, some of which may be of high-intensity, and must be differentiated from radiation emitted from a fire. These environments provide difficult conditions within which optical flame and gas detectors need to operate.
Spectrex has recently published an article about flame and gas detection in harsh environments in the Spring 2015 issue of Industrial Fire Journal. The article can be read online via the publication site.
Spectrex Inc is a technology leader in optical Flame and Open Path Gas Detection (OPGD). Its patented optical UV/IR and IR3 Flame Detector designs, and pioneering patented Xenon Flash designs in OPGD detectors are now the standard for oil and gas projects.
A wide range of flame detectors are available, from ultra-fast (msec) detection time to high sensitivity hydrocarbon and hydrogen flame detection, alongside the equally large OPGD range that can detect hazardous gases, from flammable hydrocarbons to toxic ammonia and hydrogen sulphide. All Spectrex products can operate in the toughest conditions, from African deserts to Alaskan waters and are fully approved to meet relevant third-party Ex hazardous area, performance and reliability standards to the wide range of application challenges, worldwide.
For more information, please see the company website.
