Design and Construction of a Microcontroller Based Liquified Petroleum Gas Leakage Detector Using Gsm Module
CHAPTER ONE
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of this project is to Design and Construct a Microcontroller Based Liquefied Petroleum Gas Detection system using GSM Module, a system capable of detecting if there is gas leakage and sends messages to specified number informing them about the leakage without any time delay.
This design work was achieved by using a gas sensor which monitor and detect if there is a gas leakage, and a microcontroller which is programmed to send the necessary information to a GSM module and the information is send to a specified number. The system also has a backup battery to keep it working when there is power failure.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
ANALYSIS OF EXISTING SYSTEM
Several research work has been done has on LPG leakage detection system. Stated below are some of the work done and basic principles behind them. A survey on these techniques has been done in (Pal-Stefan Murvay& Ioan Silea, 2012). For pipe encased gas pressure label line a study on the existing method of gas leakage has been done in (J. D. Piper, 1948) and adopted a method from the existing method which consists of three steps but these steps are totally dependent on the structure and joint of the pipe.
High pressurized pipe leak can also be detected by chaos information criteria in (Tetsuji Tani, 2006) and pressure decay method as described in (Niu Huachang et al, 2012). However the drawback is that the system based on chaos information criteria is based on sound data which is more sensitive to environment temperature causes an error in identifying the gas leakage in the system. This two systems are based on mass flow balance equation, which consists in balancing the flow at the boundaries plus the variation of the line pack(LP) in the pipes. A flexible, reliable, smart gas detection system is implemented as reported in the literature of (Dipanjan Bhattacharjee, et al. 2011). The main advantage of this system is that the sensor node can be configured remotely from the base station without altering hardware components. The background noise problem is eliminated by using Kalman Filter in (Zhang Sheng, 2004).
For high pressure natural pressure gas transportation a linear parameter varying (LPV) modelling and identification approach to leakage detection is done in (Paulo Lopes dos Sentos et al, 2011; P. Lopes dos Sentos 2010)
Non-technical system
These methods involve personnel patrolling along the pipelines looking for visual effects of a gas leak, smelling substances that might be released through a leak or listening to special sounds that can be made by gas as it leaks out. Sometimes, trained dogs are used as they are more sensitive to the smell of certain gases (Quaife and Acker, 1993; Kennedy, 2005). The sensitivity of dogs, depending on the target compound, has been found to be in the 10 parts-per-billion (PPB) – 500 parts-per-trillion (PPT) range, in laboratory conditions (Johnston, 1999). However, using dogs to detect leaks has the disadvantage that they cannot be effective for periods longer than 30 to 120 minutes of continuous searching (Garner et al.,2001). Additionally, the accuracy of this approach can be affected by fatigue and the interpretation given by the handler to the canine response. These on-site inspections are required in some countries such as the USA as a regulation for hazardous substance pipelines operators (USDT, 2007).
Soap bubble screening, which is a low-cost method for locating smaller leaks (Liu et al., 2008), can also be included in this category. It involves spraying a soap solution on different components of the pipeline or on suspicious surfaces on the pipe. Usually soap screening is mainly applied to valves and piping joints as these are gas leak prone places. This method is rapid and has a small cost, thus it would be helpful as a part of the routine inspection procedures. The use of this type of methods has the advantage that it requires no special equipment and that they result in the immediate localization of the leak upon detection. Unfortunately there are also some downsides for using it. For instance the detection time depends on the frequency of these inspections which is usually reduced (e.g. the USA regulation states that these inspections should be done at least once every three weeks). The detection of a leak greatly depends on the experience and meticulousness of the employed personnel. Another disadvantage is that this method can only be applied to pipelines that are accessible to personnel ruling out its application in the case of buried pipes.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM DESIGN ANALYSIS
METHODOLOGY
The project was designed and implemented using top to bottom design method just as shown in the block diagram in figure 3.1. The system starts form the following units:
- Power and Charging Circuit
- Sensing Unit
- Controlling Unit
- Mobile phone
In the methodology, the system design is in two parts: Hardware design and software design. The hardware design is the physical parts of the system while the software design treats the programs that were written to control the microcontroller at the processing centre of the system. The hardware design is the heart of the project. This is the physical implementation where the various components used for the design were incorporated together on a Vero-board through soldering. It consists of many units which include a GSM module, a Controlling unit and other units listed above.
CHAPTER FOUR
CONSTRUCTION, TESTING AND RESULTS
IMPLEMENTATION
The term stage is associated to a group of components, which is aimed at achieving a specific purpose. The system was constructed in modules as designed and later put together on completion to simplify construction, testing and maintenance. A prototype of the system was initially constructed on a breadboard and when it was found to be working properly was then transferred to a Vero board. After testing the work was finally cased. The detail of circuit diagrams and essential figures are presented in the appendices. This has been broken down in the previous chapter. Each of the stage will now be treated more elaborately.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
Gas leakages in households and industries cause risk to life and property. A huge loss has to be incurred for the accident occurred by such leakages. A GSM based gas leak alert system with multiregional sensors has been designed, constructed and tested. The result obtained from the tests carried out shows that the system is capable of sending SMS alerts whenever there is gas concentration at the inputs of the gas sensors. Hence this system can be used in homes and public buildings such as hotels and restaurants.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
Along the course of project completion I encountered various problems and obstacles. Not everything that we had planned went smoothly during the project development span. Also i had a limited amount of time for its completion so we were under a certain amount of pressure as well. I had to start from the research phase at the beginning and needed to gain knowledge on all the devices and components that we had intended to use for our project. Other phases of the project included coding, debugging, testing, documentation and implementation and it needed certain time for completion so I really had to manage the limited time available to us and work accordingly to finish the project within the schedule. In the aspect of testing I was restrained to using a lighter and a 5kg cylinder as main sources of leakages, whereas, leakages can occur under several conditions and locations.
Network strength was a mitigating factor in fulfilling the project, as strengths of various networks varied and delivery time of messages varied with network, traffic, and time of the day.
RECOMMENDATIONS
For future research and improvement modifications can be implemented on the system by including a display to show concentration of gas. The system can be further enhanced by using PIC microcontroller in place of Atmel microcontroller which supports real time application and real time clock to display the exact date and time of gas leakage. The system can also be modified by using a temperature sensor that detects sudden rise in temperature due to other causes which can be hazardous. The temperature sensor can also use to detect the temperature near the high pressure gas pipe, display it and also alert when high temperature is reached. A dialling function and web based function can be included, so messages can be sent to e-mails, websites, and to News and Law enforcing agencies.
For future work, proper research should be made to improve signal strength for the system.
Also, research can be made into adding systems that can cut off gas supply in the event of a leakage
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