High-sensitivity gas detection and monitoring system for high-risk welding activity

Abstract

This study attempted to investigate and design a new mechanism in monitoring safety by detecting gas concentration levels to prevent an explosion during welding activities at a high-risk site. The objective of this project was to design and develop a new safety precaution monitoring system during welding activity using a low-cost microcontroller to improve the current practice. The study was conducted by dividing the project into three stages: sensing, controlling, and notification. At the sensing stage, different gas concentration levels have been tested and analyzed to determine the safety range or level. However, the controller part managed the responses based on the detection of gas in the environment. Indicator and secure digital memory have been used to notify and record the activity during the operation. In the environment test, the system starts to trigger when sensing the level produced at 1.416 V, which represents 30% of the gas concentration. Nevertheless, the gas sensor required a 10-second initialized time to stabilize and produce the desired sensing level. At the end of this paper, the system has been successfully designed, developed, and tested at the prototype level.