Description
Phosphine (PH3) is a colourless, highly toxic, flammable gas with a distinctive odour that is often described as resembling garlic or rotting fish. It is an extremely dangerous gas due to its toxicity, even at very low concentrations.
Key Properties:
- Colourless: Invisible to the naked eye.
- Odour: Characteristic garlic or rotting fish smell. This odour can be a warning, but at high concentrations, it may not be detectable or may cause olfactory fatigue.
- Highly Toxic: Even very small amounts can be lethal. It primarily targets the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
- Flammable/Explosive: Phosphine is pyrophoric, meaning it can spontaneously ignite in air at room temperature. It also forms explosive mixtures with air. Impurities like diphosphine (P2H4) often cause this spontaneous flammability.
- Density: Slightly heavier than air, so it can accumulate in low-lying areas or confined spaces.
Replacement Sensor, Part No. 17124975-E, Properties
Gas Detected (Abbreviation) |
Sensor Type | Measurement | Response time (Seconds) |
Calibration Gas & Concentration |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Range | Resolution | T50 | T90 | |||
Phosphine PH3 |
Electrochemical | 0 to 1,000 ppm | 1 ppm | 8 | 40 | PH3 5 ppm |
At the Phosphine levels this sensor is designed for detecting, any individuals using this for personal protection must be wearing respirator equipment. Levels over 50ppm would overcome anyone in minutes. Even levels below the resolution would be over any permissible exposure limits for an individual
Toxic Gas Sensor Cross-sensitivity Table
Target Gas | Sensor | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CO | CO (H2 Low) |
H2S | SO2 | NO2 | Cl2 | ClO2 | HCN | HCl | PH3 | NO | H2 | NH3 | |
CO | 100 | 100 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
H2S | 5 | 5 | 100 | 1 | -40 | -3 | -25 | 10 | 300 | 25 | 10 | 20 | 25 |
SO2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 40 | – | 0 | 0 | -40 |
NO2 | -5 | 5 | -25 | -165 | 100 | 45 | – | -70 | – | – | 30 | 0 | -10 |
Cl2 | -10 | 0 | -20 | -25 | 10 | 100 | 60 | -20 | 6 | -20 | 0 | 0 | -50 |
ClO2 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 100 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
HCN | 15 | – | – | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 5 |
HCl | 3 | – | – | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
PH3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | -100 | 425 | 300 | 100 | – | – | – |
NO | 25 | 40 | -0.2 | 1 | 5 | – | – | -5 | – | – | 100 | 30 | 0 |
H2 | 22 | 3 | 0.08 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 |
NH3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
The table above reflects the percentage response provided by the sensor (top row) when exposed to a known concentration of the target gas (column 1).
The numbers were measured under these environmental conditions: 20 °C (68 °F), 50% RH and 1 atm.
The specified cross-interference numbers apply to new sensors only and may vary with time as well as from sensor to sensor.
“-” means no data available.
This table is given as a reference only and is subject to change.