I need a sensor that can detect gasoline vapors.
During Hurricane season I store several 5 gallon containers of gasoline for emergency purposes.
My concern is that if they should develop a leak somehow, dangerous vapors will be present.
If the MQ-2 is not the appropriate sensor is there another MQ sensor that would work?
Thanks
The datasheet doesn't answer this question, but the manufacturer may be able to. It seems to be
generally sensitive to organics than can be catalyzed to oxidize on the sensor heated element, which
suggests it ought to work (it works well for propane and butane for instance which are similar
in properties to the hydrocarbons in petrol).
It is something you could test if you can devise safe way to expose a sensor to a known concentration of the
vapour yourself - but without risking the kind of explosion you seek to prevent... perhaps outside well away from
buildings and flamable stuff in a cardboard box (cardboard shrapnel isn't scary!)
There is a safety issue -if you suspect leakage, then the area around the fuel is a hazardous area - you don’t want your leak detector to ignite the vapour .
Intrinsic safety is a complex area , consider this first
MarkT:
to oxidize on the sensor heated element
Sounds like a controlled burn to me - so if you're in just the right concentration of flammable gas this sounds like a potential big boom to me - gotta have at least the guarantee of the manufacturer that this sensor is totally safe.