A Brief History of Gas Detection

Technology is constantly innovating to improve the accuracy and reliability of gas detection systems, but where did it all begin?

A Need For Gas Detection

During the 19th and 20th Century Industrial Revolution, coal miners needed to know whether the mine had a pocket of methane gas where they were working. Many miners wore flame lights on their helmets to be able to see while they were working, so being able to detect the extremely flammable methane was paramount.

The Needs of The Many

The first method of gas detection used was by sending in one unfortunate miner, covered in a wet blanket and holding a long wick with a flame on the end. He would run the wick along the walls of the mine looking for pockets of methane being released, which would ignite, but wouldn’t cause harm to the miner under the damp blanket. However, sometimes he would hit a much larger pocket of gas, igniting the whole area — with fatal consequences.

Back then, the general consensus was that it was better to lose one man than a whole team and that if just one person was lost, mining could continue. This obviously came at a huge ethical cost and was not a long-term solution, so other options were explored.

The Canaries

Gas detection moved from humans to canaries, known for their shrill, loud chirps. They also have a nervous system that is similar to a humans — and is responsible for breathing control.

Miners would carry the canaries with them into the mines, and listen out for any changes. If a canary started to shake the cage, it was about to die and the miners needed to get out. Also, if the normally chirpy songbird fell silent, it could have potentially been killed by methane and signalled that the miners must urgently exit.

The canaries helped to reduce the loss of human life, as well as providing a visible and audible gas detection method — but there was still a huge margin for error.

The Flame Light

The flame safety light was the next evolution for gas detection in the mines. The flame light helped to illuminate the mines as well as providing a more accurate detection for the dangerous methane gas.

The flame is housed in a wire gauze sleeve, which absorbed the heat and encapsulated the flame so it couldn’t ignite any methane present.

Miners would light the flame in an environment where fresh air was abundant. If the flame lowered or started to die, it would indicate that the atmosphere had a low oxygen concentration. If the flame grew larger, the miners knew that methane was present with oxygen — in both instances, they would know that they needed to leave the mine quickly.

Gas Detection Evolution: The Catalytic Sensor

While mining was the pioneering industry to spearhead gas detection innovation, other industries also had a need for gas safety. The flame safety light was not a ‘one size fits all’ approach for all industries; their specific gas and atmosphere detection requirements were too diverse.

The catalytic sensor was the first gas detector that resembles modern technology. The sensors work on the principle that when a gas oxidises, it produces heat. The catalytic sensor works by detecting a temperature change, which is proportional to the concentration of gas.

While this was a huge step forward for gas detection, it still required someone to manually press the button on the monitor to get an updated reading.

Gas Detection Today

Electro-catalytic sensors are still widely used across all industries today. However, they are not a comprehensive solution, as many environments have diverse and specific criteria to analyse.

We’ve come a long way from sacrificing one miner to keep the rest of the team safe. Nowadays, gas detectors are highly sensitive, accurate and reliable to a wide range of hazards in the workplace, keeping all personnel safe and vastly reducing the number of workplace fatalities.