Safe LPG for home

May 2013

CHAPTER 2 SYSTEM OVERVIEW 2.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM REPRESENTATION

BUZZER GAS SENSOR PIC MICROCONTROLLER

GSM MODULE

Fig.2.1 Block Diagram of Safe LPG Home Gas leakage detection is the process of identifying potentially hazardous gas leaks by means of sensors. These sensors usually employ an audible alarm to alert people when a dangerous gas has been detected. The leakage of gas is detected if the presence of gas is above the safer limit. The output of sensor is given to the ADC pin of the pic microcontroller and is converted into digital form. If ADC output is above the safer value the buzzer gives an immediate alert to the people at home and the GSM module sends an alert message to the already saved number.

2.2 BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION 2.2.1 GAS SENSOR A gas detector is a device which detects the presence of various gases within an area, usually as a part of a safety system. This type of equipment is used to detect a gas leak and interface with a control system. A gas detector can also sound an alarm to operators in the area where the leak is occurring, giving them the opportunity to leave the area or to take safety measures. This type of devices are important because there are many gases that can be harmful to organic life, such as humans or animals.

Dept. of ECE

May 2013

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

The gas sensor is composed of sensing element, sensor base and sensor base and sensor cap. The pictorial view of gas sensor is shown in figure.2.3.

Fig.2.2 Gas Sensor

Operating principle of semiconductor gas sensor

Figure shows basic gas sensor structure of TGS26xx series as an example

Fig.2.3 Sensor Structure

Dept.of ECE

SBCEW,Elavumthitta

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

The gas sensor is composed of sensing element, sensor base and sensor cap. The sensing element contains sensing material and heater to heat up sensing element. Depending on the target gas, the sensing element will utilize different materials such as Tin dioxide (SnO2), Tungsten oxide (WO3), etc. When a metal oxide crystal such as Sn02 is heated at a certain high temperature in air, oxygen is adsorbed on the crystal surface with a negative charge. Then donor electrons in the crystal surface are transferred to the adsorbed oxygen, resulting in leaving positive charges in a space charge layer. Thus , surface potential is formed to serve as a potential barrier against electron flow.

Fig.2.4 Model of inter-grain potential barrier (in the absence of gases)

Inside the sensor, electric current flows through the conjunction parts (grain boundary) of SnO2 micro crystals. At grain boundaries, adsorbed oxygen forms a potential barrier which prevents carriers from moving freely. The electrical resistance of the sensor is attributed to this potential barrier.

Dept. of ECE

May 2013

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

In the presence of a deoxidizing gas, the surface density of the negatively charged oxygen decreases, so the barrier height in the grain boundary is reduced(Eqn.2.6 &Fig.2.7). the reduced barrier height decreases sensor resistance.

Eqn.2.1 Scheme of the reaction between CO and adsorbed oxygen on the SnO2 surface

Fig.2.5 Model of inter-grain potential barrier (in the presence of gases)

Dept. of ECE

SBCEW,Elavumthitta

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

2.2.2 PIC 16F877A

In this project a programmable microcontroller PIC 16F877A is used. It has got wide range of operating voltage from 2.5v to 5.5v. It is a 40 pin microcontroller with 5 ports. The ports of the microcontroller are port A,B,C,D,E. The port a has 6 pins and port e has 3 pins and remaining ports have 8 pins each. Another important feature of this microcontroller is that it has internal EEPROM in which the program corresponding to the project safe lpg home is written. PIC can be programmed more than once and hence it is more reliable. Interfacing of peripherals can be done easily with this controller.

Fig.2.6. Pin configuration of PIC 16F877A

Dept. of ECE

May 2013

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

2.2.3 BUZZER A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or piezoelectric. Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers and confirmation of user input such as a mouse click or keystroke. A buzzer is typically used in automobiles, household appliances such as microwave oven, or game shows.

Fig.2.7 Buzzer

It most commonly consists of a number of switches or sensors connected to a control unit that determines if and which button was pushed or a preset time has lapsed, and usually illuminates a light on the appropriate button or control panel, and sounds a warning in the form of a continuous or intermittent buzzing or beeping sound. Initially this device was based on an electromechanical system which was identical to an electric bell without the metal gong(which makes the ringing noise). Often these units were anchored to a wall or ceiling and used the ceiling or wall as a sounding board. Another implementation with some AC connected devices was to implement a circuit to make the AC current into a noise loud enough to drive a loudspeaker and hook this circuit up to a cheap 8-ohm speaker. Nowadays, it is more popular to use a ceramic-based piezoelectric sounder like a Sonalert which makes a high-pitched tone. Usually these were hooked up to driver circuits which varied the pitch of the sound or pulsed the sound on and off.

Dept. of ECE

May 2013

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

In game shows it is also known as a lockout system, because when one person signals(buzzes in), all others are lockes out from signaling. Several game shows have large buzzer which are identified as plungers. The word buzzer comes from the rasping noise that buzzers made when they were electromechanical devices, operated from stepped-down AC line voltage at 50 or 60 cycles. Other sounds commonly used to indicate that a button has been pressed are a ring or a beep. 2.2.4 GSM MODULE GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Special Mobile), is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe protocols for second generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile phones. It became the de facto global standard for mobile communications with over 80% market share. The GSM standard was developed as a replacement for first generation (1G) analog cellular networks, and originally described a digital, circuit swutched network optimized for full duplex voice transport via GPRS (General Packet Radio services) and EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution or EGPRS.

Fig.2.8 GSM Modem

Dept. of ECE

May 2013

Safe LPG for home

May 2013

A GSM is a specialized type of modem which accepts a SIM card, and operates a subscription to a mobile operator, just like a mobile phone. From the mobile operator perspective, a GSM moderm looks just like a mobile phone. When a GSM modem is connected to a computer, this allows the computer to use the GSM modem to communicate over the mobile network. While these GSM modems are most frequently used to provide mobile internet connectivity, many of them can also be used for sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages.

Dept. of ECE

May 2013