Apparatus and method for monitoring hazardous materials in a processing or other environment

• US 20080122641A1
• Filed: 11/29/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Amidi, Soroush
• Granted Patent: US 7,688,198 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/632
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0075 for multiple spatially distributed sensors, e.g. for environmental monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/14 Toxic gas alarms G08B21/16 takes precedence

Abstract

A sensor detects one or more hazardous materials, such as by measuring the concentration of one or more hazardous gasses. The sensor or an external system can also determine a location of the sensor. This location can be associated with the measured data from the sensor at the external system or at the sensor. The location could be determined at the sensor using GPS or RFID. The location could be determined at the external system using RFID. The external system can use the measured data and the location information to perform a wide variety of tasks, such as mapping hazardous materials in a processing or other environment or identifying trends in the concentration of the hazardous materials.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a sensor operable to detect one or more hazardous materials;

a tracking system operable to at least one of;

identify a location of the apparatus and initiate transmission of a signal for identifying the location of the apparatus; and

an interface operable to transmit data from the sensor, the data associated with the detection of the one or more hazardous materials.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the sensor is operable to measure a concentration of the one or more hazardous materials; and

the interface is operable to transmit one or more measured concentrations generated by the sensor.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the tracking system is operable to determine the location of the apparatus; and

the interface is operable to transmit the one or more measured concentrations and one or more determined locations.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the tracking system is operable to determine the location of the apparatus using at least one of:

Global Positioning System (GPS) signals and signals from one or more radio frequency transmitters.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the tracking system is operable to initiate transmission of signals used by an external system to identify the location of the apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a controller operable to control operation of at least one of:

the sensor, the tracking system, and the interface.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller and the tracking system are operable to cooperate to identify the location of the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

a display coupled to the controller and operable to display information associated with the data from the sensor;

a control coupled to the controller and operable to provide user input to the controller; and

an alarm coupled to the controller and operable to provide an indication to the user associated with the data from the sensor.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the sensor is operable to measure a concentration of the one or more hazardous materials;

the controller is operable to determine if the concentration of each hazardous material exceeds a threshold; and

the alarm is operable to provide the indication to the user when the concentration of at least one hazardous material exceeds its associated threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the sensor is operable to measure the concentration of each of multiple hazardous gasses;

the controller is operable to determine if the concentration of each hazardous gas exceeds a lower threshold or an upper threshold; and

the alarm is operable to provide different indications to the user, the indications varying based on whether the concentration of at least one hazardous gas exceeds its lower threshold or its upper threshold.

11. A method, comprising:

detecting one or more hazardous materials at a portable sensor;

identifying a location of the portable sensor at the portable sensor; and

transmitting data associated with the detection of the one or more hazardous materials and the identified location of the sensor to an external system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting the one or more hazardous materials comprises measuring a concentration of the one or more hazardous materials.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

comparing a measured concentration and at least one threshold; and

initiating an alarm if the measured concentration exceeds any of the at least one threshold.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the location of the portable sensor comprises determining the location of the portable sensor using at least one of:

Global Positioning System (GPS) signals and signals from one or more radio frequency transmitters.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein transmitting the data and the identified location comprises one of:

downloading the data and the identified location to a host computer; and

transmitting the data and the identified location wirelessly to a radio frequency (RF) receiver.

16. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium and operable to be executed by a processor, the computer program comprising:

computer readable program code for receiving measurement data associated with one or more hazardous materials from a sensor, the sensor associated with an environment;

computer readable program code for at least one of;

receiving location data identifying a location of the sensor and determining location data identifying the location of the sensor; and

computer readable program code for analyzing the measurement data and the location data to determine at least one characteristic of the environment.

17. The computer program of claim 16, wherein the at least one characteristic of the environment comprises one or more of:

locations where a concentration of the one or more hazardous materials exceeds at least one threshold, movement of the one or more hazardous materials, a build-up of the one or more hazardous materials, and a trend in the concentration of the one or more hazardous materials.

18. The computer program of claim 16, wherein:

the sensor is operable to generate the location data identifying the location of the sensor; and

the computer program comprises computer readable program code for receiving the location data identifying the location of the sensor from the sensor.

19. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the location data identifying the location of the sensor is received from the sensor through at least one of:

a receiver operable to wirelessly receive the location data in real-time from the sensor and a host computer operable to receive the location data in non-real-time from the sensor.

20. The computer program of claim 16, wherein:

the sensor is operable to transmit signals to one or more receivers; and

the computer program comprises computer readable program code for determining the location data identifying the location of the sensor using an identity of the one or more receivers that receive the signals transmitted by the sensor.