DIESEL EXHAUST INDICATION SYSTEM

Key sources of DEEE include transportation within underground mining and tunnelling environments, such as trucks, extraction vehicles, tracklayers, or wider vehicles such as ships, cars and road transport in non-underground occupational environments.

According to the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), short term effects to exposure of DEEE can cause irritation to the eyes or respiratory tracts, as well as light-headedness and nausea. Long-term exposure can lead to more chronic health effects.

Some components of DEEE are carcinogenic, which can have damaging long-term effects, if exposed to workers. Particularly in underground, restricted and arduous underground locations, if not effectively monitored for, DEEE can have significant, potentially life-threatening risk to workers.

Through SENTRO 8, the DEEE indication system monitors for multiple types of gases and can generate alarm conditions based on your pre-set, user configurable setpoint alarm conditions.

They can also be allocated to configurable on-board relays with the added functionality of AND logic if required. DEEE can include a combination of the following hazardous gases:

• Carbon Monoxide (CO)
• Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)
• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂)
• Nitrogen Monoxide (NO)

DEEE also includes airborne particles, DPM, such as respirable dust, which the AIR XD has the ability to monitor for. All generated particles in underground occupational environments, above AIR XD’s low-end resolution of 0.35 μm, can be accurately detected for in real-time.

AIR XD’s PM1 STEL and TWA data is mapped to two 4 to 20mA signals, to be brought into the SENTRO 8 system, alongside the gases to allow the data to be utilised in relay configuration where required, providing accurate and instant data for DEEE exposure levels.

According to the BOHS, Diesel Engine Exhaust Emissions is the mixture of entire pollutants from the source of diesel emissions. This consists of a complex mixture of particulate substances, liquid aerosols, gases, vapours, and other dissolved components.

Diesel Particulate Matter is a mixture of specifically particulate matter, the major constituent of which is elemental carbon; often referred to as soot, according to the British Standards Institution (BSI). Effectively DPM is solely the solid and liquid particles element of DEEE.

BSI suggests to prevent any exposure to DPM, total exposure to DEEE should also be controlled. The Trolex DEEE indication system detects for DEEE, which includes risk of DPM like soot, through real-time monitoring technology.

There isn’t formal workplace exposure limit (WEL) for entire DEEE exposure in the UK. Instead, both BOHS and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) provide specific guidelines to adhere to in order to reduce exposure to DEEE, whilst also noting WELs for both particulate components and gaseous components separately.

Where no formal WEL for DEEE exists, amendments to previous EU directives introduced a new exposure limit for DEEEs of 0.05 mg/m3 (8-hour TWA) as elemental carbon. Additionally, the UK WEL for Nitrogen Monoxide is 2 ppm (8-hour TWA) and Carbon Dioxide are 5000 ppm (8-hour TWA) and 15000 ppm (15-minute STEL).

The DEEE indication system from Trolex can provide highly accurate and instant readings on exposure to all particles, Nitrogen Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide. Working alongside IOSH guidance for controlling exposure to DEEE is also essential to both implementing, using and maintaining the DEEE indication system.

IOSH control guidance states that typical actions to control DEEE exposure generally follow the same process as the Hierarchy of Controls. With eliminating DEEE exposure as the top priority, it next looks to reducing exposure, then implementing engineering and administrative controls, such as fitting air cleaners, ventilation and recirculation.

The Trolex DEEE indication system provides instant alerts for pre-set, user configurable setpoints, so you can not only protect workers from overexposure to DEEEs but implement and monitor you’re effective control measures to further reduce potential exposure to DEEEs.

All the data for DEEE exposure collected by the Trolex DEEE indication system can be readily accessible and available over RS485 RTU (particulate data available over RS485 Modbus RTU or TCP), allowing the data to be brought into wider site SCADA / PLC system for further visualisation and datalogging for complete workplace analysis.

Individual components and monitoring equipment for the DEEE indication system can be supplied as General Purpose equipment or Group I intrinsically safe certified options:

• ATEX
• IECEx
• MASC

Power supplies can also be added where we required, and other sensors can be brought into the system based on customer requirements. Your personal requirements can be assisted by our in-house system team, to design a system which is specific to your needs.