Seeley Gas Detection

Seeley International is Australia’s largest air conditioning and ducted gas heating manufacturer, designing and manufacturing world-leading energy efficient cooling and heating products for Australia and the world. Seeley is proudly 100% Australian owned.

Our customer required a gas detection system to support the Research and Development function in their organisation. When developing and testing new products, Research and Development Teams can be required to undertake certain tasks using LPG and Natural Gas. Whilst performing these activities, Gas Detection is often necessary or desirable for a number of reasons. The use of a gas monitoring system, with an appropriate action taken if dangerous levels of gases are detected, can help to prevent damage or explosion and can help to prevent worker injury or exposure to toxic gases.

VK Logic developed a system using an ABB Pluto Safety PLC ® and monitors, 13 Honeywell ™ gas sensors and 5 emergency stops. The main control panel, which is located outside the critical area, has a colour ABB HMI Display, showing live gas levels and safety status. There is also a reset button and indicators. Additional set point adjustments are available via a password protected section of the HMI. An audible alarm and light tower were installed with Amber and Red alerts. The Amber alert is designed to advise that gas has been detected but is not yet at a shutdown level. The red alert is to advise employees that the gas level has reached the tripping point and the supply has been shut down. The system was designed and verified as complying to relevant standards (AS4024) by VK Logic’s Machine Functional Safety Engineering Team.

VK Logic were able to successfully design a safety system to continuously monitor gas levels and help to ensure safety to employees and assist in preventing injury and damage. The system was designed in line with the relevant Australian Standards (AS024). If gas levels are detected at dangerous levels the system will safely shut down power and gas supply to the affected areas and eliminate dangers. Separating the working areas into zones enabled the customer to monitor each zone separately and provided them with the ability to shut down only impacted areas. Gas detection plays a fundamental role in helping to keep worksites safe and we were pleased to have the opportunity to support our customer in such a critical aspect of an organisation’s safety program.