Company extends offering

Safety equipment manufacturer MSA Africa has extended its gas detection capabilities with the acquisition of gas detection technology manufacturer Senscient in the UK, and the launch of its new Ultima X5000 with Bluetooth communication.

High false-alarm rates, slow detection and poor reliability are frequent bugbears for on-site operations in terms of gas-leak detection, MSA Africa manager Etienne Jacobsz points out. However, the company has now introduced Enhanced Laser Diode Spectroscopy (ELDS) technology from Senscient by Msa Africa to help mitigate these challenges.

This introduction follows the acquisition of Senscient of the UK by MSA Safety, the holding company of MSA Africa. Senscient patented its ELDS technology in 2009 for the detection of a range of toxic and flammable gases. The main benefit of this technology is that it eliminates false alarms faster. It means increased reliability in terms of detecting hazardous gases, thereby boosting safety on-site and reducing operational costs.

ELDS technology has significantly changed the way that facility operators protect their personnel and assets from hazardous gas leaks, enhancing MSA’s reputation as a global leader in gas-detection technology and equipment.

“This innovative technology from Senscient complements our existing fixed-gas and flame- detection portfolio,” Jacobsz highlights. It gives MSA a stronger foothold in a range of industries, from gas and pipeline processing to ammonia and fertiliser production, the refinery and petrochemicals industry, wastewater, photovoltaics, marine and the process analytics industry.

In addition, Senscient’s SimuGas automated full-system integrity checks eliminates the need for gas checks. ELDS is also immune to the cross interference that plagues electrochemical sensors, thanks to target-gas specific harmonic fingerprint detection.

The latest gas technology innovations from MSA Africa include the launch of the new Ultima X5000, which uses Bluetooth communication for calibration, reporting, sensor status, event logging and set-up, including span value and alarm threshold. The instrument has a multiple sensor capability, which means that catalytic and electrochemical sensors can be interchanged.

Differentiating features are no-tool operation, multiple sensor capability, longer-lasting and better-performing sensors, and organic light emitting diode display, in addition to Pulse Check and Adaptive Environmental Compensation features. The latter guarantees that the XCell sensor is functioning correctly. It even corrects the reading automatically if the sensor has drifted owing to environmental effects.

It is also capable of identifying if the XCell sensor has had a catastrophic failure, and is no longer capable of monitoring the area safely. The user is also alerted if the sensor needs to be replaced in the near future.