Shur Shot interface block and electronics. Electronics consists of an optical reader, internal ammeter, and lighting protection diodes.

RMC's Sensor Companion™ can be used to collect data and close alarm contacts from the Shur-Shot, other gas detectors, and other industrial sensors.

For further information on Shur Shot or for a Request for Quotation please contact Joe Roehl at jroehl@scentczar.com

Shur Shot with sensor remoted from electronics and interface for a high temperature process application.

Shur Shot detector in an explosion proof industrial enclosure. Large cylinder contains electronics and interface. Sensor is on top left.

op

Shur-Shot Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) Detector

Scentczar markets and sells a unique Hydrogen Fluoride Detector called the Shur-Shot.  Shur-Shot can also be used with atmospheric releases of Fluorine (F) and Uranium Hexafluoride (UF6). Fluorine and uranium hexafluoride react with the moisture in ambient air to form HF and an HF detector can usually be used to detect these materials in ambient air as HF in many area monitoring and safety applications. The Shur-Shot has the following features:

• Shur-Shot detects HF by optically interrogating a passive sensor located in the hazardous environment.   Shur-Shot detects HF through a unique chemical reaction.  False alarms are extremely rare.
• Shur-Shot requires no electrolytes or other sensor components which might freeze in a cold outdoor environment or dry out in a hot environment.
• Shur-shot only requires that the sensor module be replaced very infrequently depending on the background HF in the environment.  There are no expendable liquids, gases, or other items that need routine replenishment or replacement. 
• Shur-Shot is calibrated by interchanging a reference standard sensor and a new sensor module.  No calibration gases are required so instrument technicians do not have to handle HF.  Calibration is only required as indicated by the device reading and is required only infrequently.
• Shur-Shot requires no pumps or air moving equipment.  The sensor is mounted in a small membrane enclosed package external to the reader housing.
• Shur-Shot's read out electronics can be placed remotely and a fiber optic line used to interface the detector to the read out electronics if desired.
• Shur-Shot is an analog device.  Shur-Shot can be interfaced with a digital device but in certain hazardous applications, such as found in the nuclear industry that requires a simple analog device; Shur-Shot meets the requirement.
• Shur-Shot’s passive sensor and an optional support cable can be provided which are capable of operation at temperatures up to 150°C.  This is an important feature for certain industrial processes.

The Shur-Shot has unique features which make it the only practical HF detector for certain specialized HF, UF6, and Fluorine detection applications:

Obtaining More Information on the Shur-Shot

• Click here to view the shur-shot user's manual
• contact jroehl@scentczar.com to make an inquiry about your application

About Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) and Fluorine

As part of our marketing effort we have found a much wider interest in hydrogen fluoride, its potential sources in the environment, hydrogen fluoride detectors, and hydrogen fluoride detector applications.  We are pleased to provide some summary information on HF and HF detector applications on this page .  You can go directly to one of the following sections:

• Understanding the Market for Hydrogen Fluoride Detection
• Table Catagorizing the HF detection market

Understanding the Market for Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) Detection

Return to top

The purpose of this section is twofold: 1) to give people interested in the Hydrogen Fluoride market some idea of HF manufacturing, transportation, and applications, and 2)  to provide as much of an example as possible of a Scentczar marketing plan under development for a client, while maintaining Scentczar and client confidentiality.  The section provides a reproduction of an excellent, although a little outdated, chart of HF applications. The last paragraph on the page discusses Scentczar’s priorities in pursuing new HF markets for the Shur-Shot has an outline of our marketing plan. For the purposes of a detector marketeer, the HF market can be broken down into three major segments listed in Table 1.

 

Table 1 – Some Typical HF Sources in the Environment

Source or Process	Description
HF Manufacturing	There are three major hydrogen fluoride manufacturing plants at this time in the USA.  Hydrogen fluoride is shipped from these sites by specially designed railroad tank cars or truck.
Aluminum Smelting	HF is a byproduct of one process in aluminum smelting and used by another so it is not a recipient of manufactured HF but does emit HF from its process.  HF detectors are required as fence line monitors.
Uranium Enrichment	Uranium oxide is mined and sent to a processing plant where it is converted to uranium hexafluoride Uranium hexafluoride is shipped to an enrichment facility where the concentration of U235 is increased from 0.7% to several percent.  When UF6 comes into contact with the humidity in air it forms HF and Uranyl Fluoride.  Hydrogen Fluoride detection is required at a number of points in the enrichment process both gaseous diffusion plants and ultracentrifuge plants.
Alkylation Process – Oil Refineries	An alkylation process, using HF as a catalyst, is used to increase the octane of gasoline.  Both area monitoring for HF and fence line monitoring is required.
Alkylation Process – Other Manufacturing	HF alkylation is also used in older detergent manufacturing plants.
Commercial Fluorine Manufacturing	HF is used as a feedstock in the production of fluorine.
HF as a product of combustion	HF is a combustion byproduct for some plastics and films.
Decomposing fluorocarbons, for example byproduct of older Fire Suppressants such as HALON 1301	HF can be a product of fire or fire suppression.
HF in the pharmaceutical industry	HF is used as a precursor in the pharmaceutical industry.
HF in the manufacture of electric vehicle (EV) batteries	HF is used to synthesize LIBF6 and LIPF6
Power Plant Emissions	According to http://www.fluoridealert.org/f-powerplants.htm HF constitutes 8% of toxic emissions of power plants and is emitted mostly by coal burning plants.  EPA has considered requiring the use of HF Continuous Emissions Monitors (CEMs) for coal fired plants.

Table 2 – Typical HF Detector Applications

Applications	Description	Technologies Available
Personal Protection	A device that can be worn as a badge.  Frequently the size of a cigarette package.  Meant to alert the user if he/she enters an area of with a hazardous concentration of HF.	Electrochemical cells
Portable Monitor	A portable monitor can be carried to a site by one person.  The purpose of a portable monitor is to evaluate an area or vessel.	Laser spectroscopy.  Infrared
Area Monitor	A fixed site monitor which remains in a hazardous area and continuously monitors HF concentration	Infrared and Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS).
Fence Line Monitor	Monitor the fence line or perimeter of a facility to detect a HF release that might spill over into an unprotected area or community.	Laser diode
Continuous Emissions Monitor	An emissions monitoring required by law to measure the concentration of HF being released into the environment.	Laser diode, Ring Down Spectrometer
Process Monitor	An example is semiconductor etching.	Ion Mobility Spectrometer, Tuneable Diode Laser

 

Table 3 – Categories of HF Market that Might Require Detectors

Return to top

Category	Vulnerabilities	Detector Applications
Anhydrous HF and Aqueous HF manufacturers Rail and truck transporters HF Users	HF must be captured, stored, moved between storage and transportable containers, transferred to user site, stored, and used in a process.  Excess HF must be captured and dealt with.	Personnel detectors Area monitors Environmental monitors Emergency shutoff Sensor in a remediation system
HF as a byproduct from a process	HF generated onsite, limited storage, used on site.  Some HF will unavoidably escape into the environment.  Great examples: Aluminum Refinery recycles HF, coal fired power plant should capture it.	Personnel detectors Area monitors Environmental monitors
HF results from accidental or incinerator fire	Burning plastics including fiber optics, burning refrigerants, etc. HALON 1301 breakdown product.	Personnel detectors Sensor in a remediation system

Anhydrous HF is produced by three major producers at three sites in the US:

• Honeywell in Geismar LA
• Du Pont in La Porte TX
• Arkema in Calvert City, Kentucky

Anhydrous HF is the starting point for many commercial processing where fluorine molecules are required.Since HF is used so frequently in fluorinating materials, new HF applications constantly arise even though users are always interested in substituting more easily handled compounds.  For example anhydrous HF is being used to synthesize the lithium battery electrolytes LiBF6 and  LiPF6, the manufacture of the drug Prozac, and in certain lasers.   HF is not the most toxic common industrial chemical but is highly toxic penetrating the skin and endangering the heart as well as causing burns.  HF forms a polymer when released in air and a toxic HF cloud from a major release can easily drift off the plant site and endanger the community.  Polymerization in ambient air was demonstrated in a large anhydrous HF test release program called the Goldfish Series sponsored by AMOCO oil, USDOE, and others.  A polymer cloud resulted from these releases which traveled a lot further than expected.

HF Detector Applications and the Invention of the Shur-Shot

HF monitors are required to protect both individual workers and the environment but the Shur-Shot occupies a specific niche in plant safety.  The Shur-Shot is designed to trigger a plant remediation system using a water curtain which might damage the alkylation plant if inadvertently set off due to a false alarm.   The Shur-Shot relies on a very specific reaction between HF and silicon dioxide which can be sensed with an inexpensive optical system.

Broadening the Market for the Shur-Shot

The Shur-Shot is now the sensor of choice for a tiny niche market: Shur-Shot is the most common trigger for a water curtain remediation system in oil refinery alkylation plant.   Scentczar’s job is to broaden the market for Shur-Shot by finding other applications in the HF market and identifying other potential markets for a Shur-Shot like device that would pair the Shur-Shot optics with a specific reaction that could be used for other gases such as methane, phosgene, or ammonia.