LPG Leakage Detection Circuit Breaker

using RF Module
Introduction

Background of the Study

The LPG which is otherwise known as Liquefied Petroleum Gas, has many
industrial as well as domestic uses. It is finding wide range in homes as what we
know as cooking fuel. LPG gas is a combination of propane and butane. Even
these individual components have many domestic uses. Like propane is used in
portable stoves as well as barbeques and butane is used in deodorants and
even gas lighters used to light gas ovens in the kitchens, even cigarettes and in
industries as fuels. In the year 1910 LPG, first produced by Dr. Walter Snelling the
U.S Bureau of mines investigated gasoline to see why it evaporated so fast and
discovered that the evaporating gases were propane, butane and other light
hydrocarbons. Both LPG and natural gas are environmental friendly they easily
be detected. These gases are normally stored in pressurized steel cylinders in
liquid form and vaporize at normal temperatures. With comparison of air LPG is
heavier therefore it flows along the floor and also settles in low points which
make it difficult to disperse. LPG is a mixture of commercial butane and
commercial propane having both saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons.
Introduction

LPG has a dangerous characteristics that can be considered, the

pressure inside of an LPG storage vessel/cylinder will be equal to the vapor
pressure corresponding to the temperature of LPG in the storage vessel.
The vapor pressure is dependent on temperature as well as on the ratio of
mixture of hydrocarbons. The flammability, LPG has an explosive range of
1.8% to 9.5% volume of gas in air. This is considerably narrower than other
common gaseous fuels. The combustion reaction of LPG, it increases the
volume of products in addition to the generation of heat. LPG requires up
to 50 times of its own volume of air for complete combustion. The Odor,
LPG has only a very faint smell and consequently, it is necessary to add
some odorant, so that any escaping gas can vapor phase but suffocation
cam happen when in a large concentrations due to the fact that it
displaces oxygen.
Introduction

The toxicity, LPG gas even though slightly toxic, is not poisonous it can
pose a serious effect if they leak, it may leak as a gas or a liquid. If the
liquid leaks it will quickly evaporate and form a relatively large cloud of
gas which will drop to the ground, as it is heavier than air. LPG vapors can
run for long distances along the ground and can collect in drains or
basements cylinders can explode if involved in a fire. The health impact
this dangerous gas can cause cold burns to the skin and it can act as an
asphyxiate at high concentrations. Leak cause a negative effect to the
health such that the hydrocarbons and other chemicals of the LPG causes
very long sleep. It also causes irritated respiratory tract, nose and eyes.
Introduction

Gas detector is a gas detecting device that can detect if there is a

gas leakage. This project develops a gas detection and wireless system
that will detects gas leakage and automatically shuts off the circuit
breaker, the main power supply in the domestic household or in the area.
It use a wireless system for transmitting and receiving the data to process
the system. Therefore, this project give the advantages to the users to be
secured when the place where leakage occurrence may happened at
safe distance continuously.
Introduction

Statement of the Problem

LPG is an important source of fuel for cooking and it is also used in
automobiles as an alternative to petrol and diesel. LPG is a clean fuel but it
is highly combustible and it poses a threat. As the LPG`s are available,
either in pressurized cylinders or as in pipeline where there is a high chance
of leakage when it is not properly shut off in a closed room or other reasons
like old valves, substandard cylinders, worn out gas regulator or lack of
awareness. When the leakage occurs, there is a high chance of an
explosion especially when there is a fire or there is an electrical sparks
produced when switching on/off of any electric switch or plugging
appliances in a room that filled with LPG which may result in casualties
and loss of property. As more of us started to use LPG, there is an increase
in the number of accidents being reported because of gas leakage.
Introduction

Objectives
Our main objective is to implement security system for detecting
leakage of LPG in closed environment using a gas sensor. When the gas
sensor detects a certain amount of LPG leakage, the circuit breaker will
trip off the power supply to eliminate the possibility of explosion triggered
when electrical sparks occurs.
Specifically, the study aims;
- To detect a LPG leakage in the area.
- To develop a wireless transmission for turning off the circuit
breaker.
-To prevent accidents cause by the LPG leakage.
Introduction

Significance of the Study

The project of this study will be a benefit in promoting good and safety
engineering that will prevent fire and explosion from a LPG leakage in a
residential or commercial property and to be a benefits to any person to
prevent from loss of property, injuries and deaths.
Scope and Limitations
The study focus on developing a device that can prevent accidents
from LPG leakage. We used c++ to write a code in the micro-controller to
function properly and interpret the data coming from the gas sensor and
the result will trip the circuit breaker.
The study will not cover the other type of gases using our LPG leakage
sensor. The device has no control to the gas valve when the LPG leakage
occurs.
Review of Related Literature

Introduction
This chapter will discuss the components and instruments used for this
project in general. In recent years, there are couple more of past related
project or paper work that is related to this project. There have been
several studies on gas sensors and several applications of system for gas
leakage detection have been developed.
A related project paper by titled Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Gas
Leak Detection by Using Infrared Sensors by Institute of Engineering and
Science of Bilkent University, from Ankara, Turkey. In this thesis, the methods
for detection and monitoring gas leaks by using a Pyro-electric (or Passive)
Infrared (PIR) sensor and a thermopile sensor. A continuous time analog
signal is obtained for both of the sensors and sent to a PC for signal
processing.
Review of Related Literature

While using the PIR sensor, it have Hidden Markov Models (HMM) for each
type of event to be classified. Then, by using a probabilistic approach it
determine which class any test signal belongs to. In the case of a
thermopile sensor, in addition to Hidden Markov Modeling method, it also
use a method based on the period of the sensor signal. The frequency of
the output signal of the thermopile sensor increases with the presence of
VOC gas leak. By using this fact, we control whether the period of a test
signal is below a predefined threshold or not. If it is, our system triggers an
alarm.
Review of Related Literature

Another related project paper to this project is Design and

Development of Kitchen Gas Leakage Detection and Automatic Gas
Shut off System by University of Benin, from Benin City, Nigeria. The work
aims at designing a system that detects gas leakage and alerts the
subscriber through alarm and status display besides turning off the gas
supply valve as a primary safety measure. The shutting off of the supply
valve stops further gas flow to the cooker to prevent fire outbreak
arising from attempt at igniting of the cooker. The system is more likely a
first Aid, it automatically uses a normally closed solenoid valve for the
shutting off of the gas valve before calling for help via visual display
and audible alarm to those within the environment. The system is an
intelligent system, as it does not create a noise nuisance by
continuously sounding alarm but the alarm stops beeping once the
concentration of the gas in the atmosphere after leakage goes below
the set point and opens the valve again for normal operations.
Review of Related Literature

The third paper that is related to this project is Toxic Gas Release
Alarm System Using PIC Microcontroller by Engineering Department
from University Technology in Malaysia. This project was created to
detect carbon monoxide using TGS 2442 gas sensor and generate
an alarm signal when the detected gas reaches its hazardous level.
Powered by Microchips PIC18F2550, this project will alarm when the
carbon monoxide gas reach a hazardous level and be aware of the
gas concentration level displayed on the LCD system
Programming Tool

In this project the Microcontroller is used as the software programs to

create a data language for the system of the project.
Microcontroller
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATMEL
microcontroller ATmega328P. It has 14 digital input or output pins (of which
6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz crystal
oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset
button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller;
simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-
DC adapter or battery to get started. The Arduino Uno can be 15 powered
via the USB connection or with an external power supply. The power
source is selected automatically. The focus of this project is on the
programming of Arduino. Arduino is the open source software used to
create the code in order to run the system.
Detection System

A sensor is used for this project to detect and responds to the type of
input from the physical environment. The specific input is one of a great
number of other environmental phenomena. The output at the sensor
location is transmitted electronically over a network for reading and further
processing of the system.
MQ Gas Sensor
The MQ series of gas sensors use a small heater inside with an electro-
chemical sensor. They are sensitive for a range of gasses and are used
indoors at room temperature. They can be calibrated more or less based
on Load-resistor and Burn-in program but a known concentration of the
measured gas or gasses is needed for that. The output is an analog signal
and can be read with an analog input of the Arduino.
 MQ-6 gas sensor has high sensitivity to Propane, Butane and LPG, it
also response to Natural gas. The sensor could be used to detect different
combustible gas, especially Methane, it is with low cost and suitable for
different application.
Wireless Transmission

The Wireless transmission is need in the project as form of unguided

media. Wireless communication involves no physical link established
between two or more devices that is communicating
wirelessly. Wireless signals are spread over in the air and received and
interpreted by appropriate antennas.
RF Module
The RF module comprises of an RF Transmitter and an RF Receiver. The
transmitter/receiver (Tx/Rx) pair operates at a frequency of 434 MHz. An RF
transmitter receives serial data and transmits it wirelessly through RF
through its antenna connected at pin4. The transmission occurs at the rate
of 1Kbps - 10Kbps.
Wireless Transmission

The transmitted data is received by an RF receiver operating at the

same frequency as that of the transmitter. The RF module is often used
along with a pair of encoder/decoder. The encoder is used for encoding
parallel data for transmission feed while reception is decoded by a
decoder.
 Circuit Breaker
Circuit breakers are automatically operating safety switches which
operate by measuring heat or current flowing through the circuit. If that
exceeds a pre-set limit, they trip and sever the electricity supply as
quickly as possible. Unlike fuses, once the fault has been rectified, they
dont require replacing and can simply be reset.
Circuit breakers are an absolutely essential part of any electrical
system. Used in conjunction with proper grounding, they can safeguard
against electrocution. Circuit breakers also protect appliances, wiring and
property against fire hazards and other damage resulting from abnormal
current flow, short circuiting, overloading, and heat build-up.
Circuit Breaker
Methodology

Flow Chart
Methodology

GAS SENSOR
MQ-6 gas sensor composed by micro AL2O3 ceramic tube, Tin
Dioxide (SnO2) sensitive layer, measuring electrode and heater are fixed
into a crust made by plastic and stainless steel net. The heater provides
necessary work conditions for work of sensitive components. The
enveloped MQ-6 has 6 pin, 4 of them are used to fetch signals, and other 2
are used for providing heating current.
GAS SENSOR VALUE
The MQ-6 can detect gas concentrations anywhere from 200 to
10000ppm.
Methodology

ENCODER & RF TRANSMITTER

The RF transmitting module is a low power frequency modulation (FM)
one way link that can reach a distance up to 200 m outdoor and
approximately 30 m indoor.
RF RECEIVER & DECODER
The receiver module is a mobile unit that receives state events from
the gas detection and transmitting module. It consists of an RF receiver
and a microcontroller. After receiving the data from the transmitter, the RF
receiver sends it to the microcontroller.
Methodology

MICROCONTROLLER
The microcontroller reads the data, decodes it, and trips the circuit
breaker which will prevent electrical sparks.