BETA 762CO - SE325EC Battery carbon monoxide detector

In the production of beer the most considerable gas is carbon dioxide. Besides being a product of fermentation, it is also used to preserve the quality of products. Not to forget that several times fermentation and stocking are carried out in tanks, vats, silos, troughs that need cleaning and maintenance; since they are limited spaces, the operator will have to use a multigas detector.

GASES INVOLVED

Carbon dioxide (CO2): carbon dioxide is a colourless and odourless gas. It is not flammable, but it is toxic at high concentration. It is used to eliminate air from the tanks, to pressurize tanks and stalks, and to neutralize the cleaning water from the bottles.

EXPECTED RISKS

CO2: poisoning due to carbon dioxide, risk of asphyxia due to lack of oxygen.

The access to drains and drainage canals is dangerous for the lack of oxygen, methane and sulphured hydrogen. Mud digester: mud digesters can be considered “methane producers” where the crude reflowing water biodegrades producing high levels of methane as a sub product. Normally the 60-70% of the volume is methane, which afterwards will be utilized as fuel for other uses, like electricity production through turbine.

GASES INVOLVED

Sulphured hydrogen (H2S): it is a sub product massively present in the reflowing water depuration process. Its generation is due to the decomposition of organic substances.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): it is a transformation product of every decomposition process.
Methane (CH4): it is one of the most important products of water depuration; it originates from the decomposition of some organic substances in absence of oxygen. It is classified as a biogas.
Chlorine (C1): it is used as a disinfectant in some refining processes.

EXPECTED RISKS

H2S: colourless gas stands out for its characteristic smell of rotten eggs. A low-concentration exposure causes eye and throat irritation, cough, acceleration of breathing and fluid formation in the respiratory ways. High concentrations kill the olfactory nerve so making impossible to smell its disgusting odour, and may cause unconsciousness in few minutes.
CO2: poisoning due to carbon dioxide, risk of asphyxia due to lack of oxygen.
CH4: methane is a simple hydrocarbon and is in nature in form of gas. Methane is the main component of natural gas and is an excellent fuel, able to form easily in atmosphere resulting in a high risk of explosion.
Cl: chlorine irritates the breathing system, mainly in children and old people. When in gas state it irritates the mucosa, and in liquid state, it causes skin burns. Chlorine odour can be smelt at a 3.5 ppm concentration.

A number of applications are based on treatments of food preservation, such as packaging or gasing of vegetables.

For example, gasing of some tuber vegetables (i.g. potatoes) prevents the growth of buds during the stocking period. In some extents, inert gases – which cause asphyxia – can be used, or some waste products produce typical decomposition gases such as methane and hydrogen sulphide.
Grain storage bins and cereal storage areas may produce carbon dioxide. Some fruits may release ethane, carbon dioxide and decomposition materials become dangerous in the nearby areas.
In industrial sausage factories, frozen products are cut by means of nitrogen, therefore they need to be equipped with suitable oxygen detectors to monitor if there are any leaks and safeguard operators' health.

GASES INVOLVED

Ammonia (NH3): when stocking vegetables and fruit it is indicative of deterioration due to decomposition.
Inflammable gases: In the productions of cooked food, such as sweets and bread, for example,
flammable gases are in form of fuel delivered to ovens.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide does not behave as a bactericide (unless in a very high percentage), but it can stop growth and proliferation of the main biological agents which can affect foodstuffs.
Also the effect of carbon dioxide is clear at chemical level: in fact, after dissolving in the product, this gas develops a mild acid action able to denature those enzymes whose action may change the foodstuff scent in time and interact with the other, either animal or vegetal, ingredients so reducing spontaneous modifications.Hydrogen sulphide (H2S): to some extent, it is due to a condition of decomposition of organic matters, just like ammonia.
Nitrogen (N): Nitrogen enables a proper proportion of all the other gases which are part of the modified atmosphere mixture required for packaging; it excludes the presence of oxygen and slows down the negative changes due to enzymatic and microbiological activities.

EXPECTED RISKS

NH3: colourless, with an irritating, sharp smell, inflammable, toxic. Ammonia irritates the mucosa of the conjunctiva, nostrils and pharynx through a scalding action. Moreover, ammonia has a general scalding action.
Inflammable gases: in smaller concentration even than LEL with regard to the volume they explode in presence of a minimum flash source resulting in often serious consequences for people and things
CO2: poisoning due to carbon dioxide, risk of asphyxia due to lack of oxygen.
H2S: colourless gas stands out for its characteristic smell of rotten eggs. A low-concentration exposure causes eye and throat irritation, cough, acceleration of breathing and fluid formation in the respiratory ways. High concentrations kill the olfactory nerve so making impossible to smell its disgusting odour, and may cause unconsciousness in few minutes
N: like carbon dioxide, high concentrations of gas nitrogen in air may cause asphyxia.

During the production of wines and distillates, the danger of gas comes from the use of substances required for wine preservation, sterilization of tanks or containers, wine fermentation and, finally, stocking of alcohol..

GASES INVOLVED

Nitrogen (N): when entering inside wine vases where nitrogen was introduced to inert the atmosphere so to avoid oxidation of the product in container filled only in part, the operators may be exposed to the nitrogen remained in the tank after liquid has been removed.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide is a colourless, odourless gas, it is not combustible but toxic in high concentration. During periodical maintenance of water softening tanks, a standstill of the plant, even for a short time, may cause a stagnation of carbon dioxide, so the operators may be exposed to it whenever they enter the empty tanks.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2): It represent an extraordinarily useful substance in oenology. Its antiseptic power is exploited when harvested grapes go into processing and, afterwards, into must and wine. Sulphur dioxide is used for the antiseptic treatment of empty drums. It has a function as selector of yeasts; finally, it is an antioxidant, so it has the power of protecting wine and delay its ageing.

EXPECTED RISKS

N: like carbon dioxide, high concentrations of gas nitrogen in air may cause asphyxia.
CO2: poisoning due to carbon dioxide, risk of asphyxia due to lack of oxygen.
SO2: in excessive quantities it may get toxic. It may affect the olfactory bulb and cause acute pains inside the nose cavities. It dilutes in wine and, if ingested in big quantity, may cause different disease, among which migraine