By: Simon Lunt – Director Sales & Marketing Commercial
Clean breathing air – something that most people take for granted. But should we do this when working offshore?
Air pollution is never out of the news but in such articles the author is usually discussing huge amounts of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere causing irrevocable damage to the planet. But did you know that as little as 500ml/m3 of CO2 in your compressed breathing air would mean not only non-compliance with the EN12021 breathing air standard but more importantly the health effects of seemingly minor exposure can be very serious.
EN12021 attempts to guide employers who’s staff use compressed breathing air to keep the air as clear of contaminants as is reasonable. It has been common practice for many years to conduct periodic checking of the compressor and take an air sample using a colorimetric tube. This is of course better than not doing anything at all – but if such checks only take place every 3 or even 1 month, how do we know what is happening in the interim? Would you be happy if the smoke alarm in your home only detected smoke for 10 minutes every quarter? I sleep sounder knowing that it is continually working.
The ACG+ from Analox Sensor Technology offers users of compressed breathing air offshore the ability to either continually monitor of periodically test the purity of the delivered air. It uses state of the art sensor technology to monitor for carbon monoxide, oxygen, volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and water vapour. 90 days of data can easily be downloaded with a USB connection for trend analysis and a periodic oil mist test can be conducted with the unit.
“Challenging a long standing industry paradigm is usually an uphill battle” comments Analox’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Simon Lunt. “But the response from industries including commercial diving, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, fire and rescue, onshore petrochemical and scuba has been remarkable. There is a growing hunger to exceed minimum requirements with a better solution – and this is what we believe the ACG+ offers”
The use of compressed air is commonplace offshore. Anecdotal evidence of “bad air” from users is almost as common. Users talk of “tasting” a problem or of having “a headache for 2 days”. Why? Usually we don’t know but it could be something as simple as a badly cited compressor inlet, a filter failure or even a change in the wind direction.
“With the exceptional safety standards in the offshore industry we are hopeful that the ACG+ will be of interest to the many users of compressed breathing air offshore carrying out vital shot-blasting, vessel entry, diving, emergency response and other jobs”. For further information on this unique and comprehensive safety product please visit: www.analoxsensortechnology.com and contact Analox directly for a trial.
