We have a lab that works with a number of toxic flammable gases, including a few that are a bit more exotic and I’m having trouble finding appropriate sensors. They are used in very large equipment, so they aren’t in a chemical fume hood. The gases are CO, NO, NO2, H2S, ammonia, cyanogen, and carbonyl sulfide. My questions are: 

1. One vendor said we can use an LEL sensor for the cyanogen and carbonyl sulfide ( Cyanogen CoF 1.8 and Carbonyl sulfide CoF 1.9) and just consider it a leak if there is a detection of anything above baseline. Does that sound reasonable?
2. Another vendor said we could use a PID for these two gases but the ionization potential of cyanogen is 13.57 eV and carbonyl sulfide is 11.18 eV, both undetectable by the 10.6 eV lamp. A 11.7 eV lamp is a huge pain, so I don’t see it as a good option for only one gas. It would be the same method as above, anything above baseline is considered a detection.
3. Does anyone understand the chemistry of cyanogen and carbonyl sulfide well enough to know if there is a surrogate gas that would be better/easier to detect quantitatively? Would HCN work for cyanogen?
4. I’m mostly spinning my wheels on cyanogen and carbonyl sulfide as the other gases are well-characterized and we can easily get sensors for them. However, if anyone has ideas for the most economical way to detect all of the listed gases on a portable sensor, I’m all ears.

I’m also happy to chat offline. I can be contacted at jmattler**At_Symbol_Here**stanford.edu or 650-723-0183.

Thanks all!

Jennifer

Jennifer Mattler Guzman, CIH, M.S., M.S. (she/her)
Industrial Hygienist/Chemical Hygiene Officer
Environmental Health and Safety
Stanford University
650.723.0183