Colorimetric detection of hazardous gases using a remotely operated capturing and processing system

•A remotely operated system for the detection of hazardous gases is presented.•Detection is achieved at a low cost by means of colorimetric sensing and the use of general-purpose hardware.•Remote operation is performed using standard communication protocols.•Performance is assessed in the detection of CO, CO2, NO, NO2, SO2 and formaldehyde.

This paper presents an electronic system for the automatic detection of hazardous gases. The proposed system implements colorimetric sensing algorithms, thus providing a low-cost solution to the problem of gas sensing. It is remotely operated and it performs the tasks of image capturing and processing, hence obtaining colour measurements in RGB (Red-Green-Blue) space that are subsequently sent to a remote operator via the internet. A prototype of the system has been built to test its performance. Specifically, experiments have been carried out aimed at the detection of CO, CO2, NO, NO2, SO2 and formaldehyde at diverse concentrations by using a chromogenic array composed by 13 active and 2 inert compounds. Statistical analyses of the results reveal a good performance of the electronic system and the feasibility of remote hazardous gas detection using colorimetric sensor arrays.