The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) yesterday said that it has developed a wireless carbon monoxide sensor for water heaters that does not require a battery and which automatically issues a warning to household members and emergency response teams when excessive carbon monoxide levels are detected.
According to the National Fire Agency, more than 500 carbon monoxide poisoning incidents are reported nationwide each year, most of which are caused by incomplete combustion in a water heater, NARL researcher Huang Chun-ming (黃俊銘) said.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can occur when a person is exposed to as little as 35 parts per million of carbon monoxide, making the toxic gas more dangerous than fire, Huang said.
Common battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors need to have their batteries replaced every six months, which is a safety monitoring loophole as the public often neglect to regularly change batteries, Huang said, adding that a built-in alarm is all those detectors have to warn a household of a potential carbon monoxide leak.
The carbon monoxide sensor developed by the NARL can operate without a battery and can issue an immediate warning to household members, neighbors and rescue teams via Internet of Things technology when a leak is detected, he said.
The sensor can power itself via a micro hydraulic generator connected to a water pipe, and the device automatically starts when water flows through a generator, which can produce stable power output to maintain a WiFi connection, which is energy consuming, Huang said.
A smartphone app has been developed to allow users to remotely monitor the carbon monoxide and liquefied petroleum gas concentration in their homes, he said.
The sensor could be modified to detect other gases or fluids or to monitor public infrastructure pipes that transport gases, oils and other substances to prevent a pipeline explosion similar to the one in Kaohsiung last year, which killed 32 people and damaged major roads in the city’s Cianjhen (前鎮) and Lingya (苓雅) districts, he said.
The NARL is also working with private security companies to establish a new household security service, while it is applying for a patent in the US and China for technology transfer with international companies, he said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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