'A laboratory behind glass'

 

As one of the leading manufacturers in safety, Dräger first developed its tubes technology 70 years ago. Since then, it has expanded its product line and sold more than 100 million tubes worldwide in the past decade. 

 

Although the basic shape and structure of the tube appears not to have changed much, the contents have changed dramatically, compared to the first detector tube patent.

 

Early days

The first detector tube patent began in the US in 1919 when two Americans, A.B Lamb and C.R Hoover, impregnated pumice with a mixture of iodine pentoxide and sulphuric acid. The preparation, which they put in a vial became the first chemical sensor for measuring or rather detecting carbon monoxide.

 

Before this early detector tube, canaries were used as sensors in coal mining to alert workers when air quality conditions were dangerous. The first detector tube was only used for qualitative detection of the presence of carbon monoxide as quantitative measurement was not possible and for many years, only a few gases could be measured with Dräger Tubes.

 

Today

These days, more than 220 short-term detector tubes are available for measuring up to 500 gases and this number is growing year-on-year. They are both handy and robust for anyone who requires quick and easy measurement of results – without the need to send samples into a lab for analysis.  

 

The simplest definition of a Dräger Tube is that it is a short-term measurement system made up of a sealed glass vial which contains a chemical preparation that reacts to a gas or vapour by changing colour. The reaction happens when a defined volume of ambient air is drawn through the tube using a Dräger Tube pump.

 

The scale printed on the side of the tube makes it easy to read the concentration level and means that calibration is not necessary. The tubes’ main use is the measurement of air contaminants in the workplace, in the concentration range of the occupational exposure limits.

 

Decreasing occupational exposure limits have meant it was necessary to develop more sensitive tubes while efforts to better understand the exposure profile in the workplace has resulted in special tubes for long-term measurement which determine time-weighted averages over given time periods.

 

Duty of care
Air contamination, whether it be from hazardous waste sites, fires, chemical or transport accidents poses a threat to workers, so it’s vital to be armed with the right equipment in order to track down every conceivable potential gas hazard. 

 

Tubes are often used in sectors such as chemical or pharmaceutical, where a diverse range of gas hazards in the plant or laboratory situations, regularly calls for on-the-spot measurement.

 

They have a variety of uses – from determination of concentration peaks, to detection of possible leakages, as well as the analysis of air in sewers, shafts, chemical tanks or other confined spaces.

 

Future

As changing environmental conditions, new legal regulations and special customer requirements come into play, new and more sensitive tubes are being developed all the time. Where gas safety is concerned, the tubes’ measurement system plays an important role and Dräger believes it has become a trend-setter when it comes to developing new – and even customer-specific tubes.

 

Dräger's tube technology goes hand-in-hand with the company’s training offer, service, maintenance and rentals, and bespoke product offer –all based around customer requirements.