A three-month trial of one of the most advanced photometric gas analysers on the market today has proven successful at a nuclear power station as it seeks to monitor potentially harmful CO2 levels.
Servomex’s SERVOTOUGH SpectraExact 2500 had been in situ at EDF Torness since June as the company looks to transition to the new model. The former model – known as the 2500E – and several predecessors have been monitoring air samples from four main points of source since the power station was established in the 1980s.
EDF Torness is home to two advanced gas-cooled reactors at its site on the east coast of Scotland, supplying power to more than 2.5 million homes across the UK. The coolant gas used during the process is CO2 – a necessary but potential hazardous gas, harmful to any employees on site.
To ensure that the 500 full-time EDF employees and their 180 full-time contractors are safe from harm while on-site, ambient air monitoring is reliant on the SpectraExact 2500. Should levels be recorded of 0.09% a built-in alarm is triggered, and the control room is alerted. Warnings would then be issued to staff to advise them to evacuate that location until it is fully investigated, and the area is determined safe by specialist personnel.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
