Abstract

This research study is to design a solution for methane gas leaks from the NGV tank. Methane gas detection projects main idea is to implement security system for detecting leakage of gas in closed environment. In this project gas leakage is identified by using sensors which works only in closed environment. In present situation there are many cases related to gas leakage which cause innocent people lives and property damage. Implementing this application can be useful in vehicles that use Natural Gas which can save lives of people. The aim of this project is to monitor for Methane gas in Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) leakage to avoid fire accidents providing vehicle safety feature where security has been an important issue. The system detects the leakage of the NGV using gas sensor and alerts the consumer about the gas leakage by sending alarm notification. The proposed system uses the Android Smartphone feature of receiving data from Bluetooth module to alert the person about the gas leakage. When the system detects the Natural Gas concentration in the air exceeds the certain level then it immediately alert the consumer by sending notification to specified paired Android Smartphone and alert the people in the vehicle by activating the alarm which includes the LED, Buzzer simultaneously and display the message on LCD.

Natural Gas

The CNG/LNG (Compressed Natural Gas / Liquefied Natural Gas) it is a versatile source of energy that can be utilised in industries, commercial, power generation, residential and transportation. The high degree of awareness on protection the environmental and comparative low cost may lead to a greater use of natural gas. Today, NGV (Natural Gas Vehicles) demand as an energy source in Malaysia is high due to the huge reserve which enable long-term supply and a perfect substitute petroleum or diesel as a source of energy. It is a clean burning fuel that can reduce emission and considered as an alternative fuel for industrial and motor vehicles.

Natural Gas - naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas found in porous geologic formations. The primary component is methane.

Safety Concerns

There have been some safety concerns with the use of NGV including taxi driver. The weak link in the chain is the actual installation and high pressure line that runs next to the gas tank and underneath the car. This line can subject to damage and subsequent leaking.

            As it is known that detecting the present of methane gas is important as the gas is an explosive type of gas and also acts as an asphyxiant. The hazardous characteristic of this gas can cause harm to driver’s safety. For these reasons, it is important to demonstrate the use of Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth allows the development of wireless alarm and notification to ensure the methane gas level in vehicle is safe and within the grasp of the user's hand. Therefore, this project attempts to use the Bluetooth technology to obtain notification of gas detection. 

Week 1 of FYP 1

Date: 12/09/2013 (Thursday)

Title: FYP Briefing

- Briefing conducted in TTL 2

- The briefing is about to give some explanation for the students who are taking the final project for Diploma and Degree programmes. The briefing is about:

·         Introduction

·         Objectives

·         Credits and duration

·         Scope of projects

·         Title selection

·         Project Assessment

·         Presentation day

·         Submission date of project

Date: 14 – 15/09/2013 (Friday to Sunday)

Title: Surveying Topics

- As mentioned in the briefing, students may choose to either select the title proposed by the FYP supervisors or propose a project of their own interest.

- Applying for a title projects are available at http://fyp.bmi.unikl.edu.my/fyp/index.php. I have gone through the list and the synopsis to understand the requirements for the project title.

Week 2 of FYP 1

Date: 17/09/2013 (Tuesday)

Title: Selecting a supervisor

- Meets with the lecturer who had taught me the technical subject previously named Dr.Ahmad Sabry Mohamad.

-  After some discussion with him, he agreed to take me as one of his Final Year Project students.

- I also discussed with the supervisor on how to get the idea for my project title. Dr.Sabry has suggested a few project titles to be considered for my FYP.

- I have decided to make some research regarding the suggested projects.

Date: 21 – 22/09/2013 (Friday to Sunday)

Title: Surveying Topics

- From the meeting I have obtained several project titles that were suggested by my advisor.

- As students may choose to either select the title proposed by the FYP supervisors or propose a project of their own interest, I have made a further research on the suggested titles and other project titles.

Week 3 of FYP 1

Date: 23/09/2013 (Monday)

Title: Project titles confirmation

-After making some research on the internet, I have decided to choose my own title and completed a synopsis of what I plan to do. Therefore, before I proceed with the title I get an appointment with supervisor and explain the project to make sure the title meets the requirement for degree students.

- During discussion, I have brought along some literature review and show the innovativeness of my project ideas.

-My proposed title and synopsis are:-

Title: A Development of Smart Methane Gas Device for Vehicles

Importance of Natural Gas

The CNG/LNG (Compressed Natural Gas / Liquefied Natural Gas) it is a versatile source of energy that can be utilised in industries, commercial, power generation, residential and transportation. The high degree of awareness on protection the environmental and comparative low cost may lead to a greater use of natural gas. Today, NGV (Natural Gas Vehicles) demand as an energy source in Malaysia is high due to the huge reserve which enables long-term supply and a perfect substitute petroleum or diesel as a source of energy. It is a clean burning fuel that can reduce emission and considered as an alternative fuel for industrial and motor vehicles.

Natural Gas - naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas found in porous geologic formations. The primary component is methane.

Project Synopsis

The increasing used of NGV gives concern about the gas leaks to the surrounding. As it is known that detecting the present of methane gas is important as the gas is an explosive type of gas and also acts as an asphyxiant. The hazardous characteristic of this gas can cause harm to your safety. This project will be done by hardware (methane detection device) and software application (such as gsm, android, iphone, ect). 

Week 4 of FYP 1

Date: 30/09/2013 (Monday)

Title: Registering project title

- After Dr.Sabry willing to take my title and the topic suggested by my own meets the requirement, he sends my title using online FYP under his name to be registered. I should be able to check the application status online once the supervisor approved my application. The final title approved by my advisor is; A Development of Smart Methane Gas Device Detector for Vehicles

-  Once the project has been assigned to me, Dr.Sabry will set up the requirements of the project and I will have to meet the requirements. The supervisor will guide me in the project; recommend approaches, techniques and methods appropriate to achieve the project’s objectives.

Date: 04/10/2013 (Friday)

Title: Research and findings

- Doing a research about gas detection system and seeks information on how it works.

- I have gathered some useful information from the internets that use the same technology and idea with my project. The information provided can be a guideline for me to begin the progress. 

Week 5 of FYP 1

Date: 07/10/2013 (Monday)

Title: Research and findings

- Doing a research and list the requirement needed to meet the objectives.

- After making some research on the internet and guidance from the supervisor, I managed to get an idea, technique, and method to imagine my project flow. The first requirement needed to run the project is to identify the components. The components are:

• Bluetooth Module
• RS 232 TO TTL Board
• PIC
• Relay
• Gas Sensor

Date: 09/10/2013 (Wednesday)

Title: Make list of components

- The listed components below are just some illustrated images idea taking from the websites. The information about components will be discussed further in this logbook.

Bluetooth Module

RS 232 to TTL Board

PIC 16F8778A

Relay

Gas Sensor

Week 6 of FYP 1

Date: 21/10/2013 (Monday)

Title: Draw a block diagram

- Meets an appointment with the supervisor and explain the block diagram.

Original Block Diagram Using GSM Design

Date: 24/10/2013 (Thursday)

Title: Redraw a block diagram

- Make more research from the previous block diagram to identify the input, process and the output from the project. Help from the supervisor is also included in making of the process.

- Supervisor gave some recommendation and suggestion to give some improvement for this block diagram. The initial block diagram of this project uses the GSM design. The new block diagrams are using android design.

- Explanation on how the components work and functioning. I will recover the explanation further in this logbook.

Final Block Diagram Using Android Communication Design

Week 7 of FYP 1

Date: 28 - 31/10/2013 (Monday - Thursday)

Title: Research and Findings (Bluetooth Module)

- This project will transmit data from PIC via Bluetooth Module to Android phone. Likely, my project also detailed how Android phone communicate with PIC through Bluetooth Module.

ANALYSIS

- Currently, most alarm notification solutions have been done via the use of conventional technologies, buzzer, and human inspection. With the introduction of newer mobile devices equipped with Bluetooth, it is possible to replace older notification technology with the use of Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth allows the development of wireless alarm notification. This research attempts to find the use of Bluetooth technology in access control applications.

FINAL FINDINGS

Title: Bluetooth classification and security

BLUETOOTH RANGE

- There are three classes in Bluetooth which depends on the power that it needs to broadcast. The exact range of the Bluetooth broadcast depends on the surroundings.

Bluetooth Range

Class 1 – 100 meters range with maximum permitted power set at 5mW.

Class 2 – 10 meters range with maximum permitted power set at 2.5mW.

Class 3 – 1 meter range with maximum permitted power set at 1mW.

Date: 01/11/2013 ( Friday )

Title: FYP Briefing

- Second FYP Briefing for Degree Programme

- Briefing conducted at Gemilang Hall.

- The briefing is about to give some further explanation for the students who are taking the final project for Degree programmes since that the presentation day will be held 3 weeks from now. The briefing is about:

• Explanation of Final Year Project Calendar for S2’2013
• Presentation requirements
• Proposal requirements
• Final report requirements

Week 8 of FYP 1

Date: 06/11/2013 (Wednesday)

Title: Research and Findings (PIC 16F877A)

ANALYSIS

Moving up the Microchip PIC16F Microcontroller family, we have the PIC16F877A. This is a very common MCU and it’s always mentioned in DIY projects. It’s popular among students, hobbyist and even engineers because it’s cheap. It is cheaper than its little brother which is the PIC16F84A. Another reason is the sheer amount of input and output pins available on this MCU. Among other things, this MCU also has Analog to Digital conversion capability without the need of an external chip.

PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller) is the IC which was developed to control peripheral devices, alleviating the load from the main CPU (Control Processing Unit). Compared to a human being, PIC is equivalent to the autonomic nervous system. The PIC, like the CPU, has calculation functions and memory, and is controlled by the software. However, the throughput and the memory capacity are low. Depending on the kind of PIC, the maximum clock operating frequency is about 20 MHz and the memory capacity to write the program is about 1000 to 4000 words. The clock frequency determines the speed at which a program is read and an instruction is executed. The throughput cannot be judged with the clock frequency alone. It changes with the processor architecture. However within the same architecture, the one with the highest clock frequency has the highest throughput.

The PIC is convenient for making calculations. The memory, the input or output ports and so on are incorporated into the IC (Integrated Circuit). The efficiency and the functions are limited, but the PIC can do the job of many IC's with software. Therefore, the circuit can be compact. Among all the PIC MCU families, the popular PIC16F877A was chosen because of its variety of hardware modules needed for most applications.

PIC 16F877A

Device Programmers

Devices called "programmers" are traditionally used to get program code into the target PIC. Most PICs that Microchip currently sells feature ICSP (In Circuit Serial Programming) and/or LVP (Low Voltage Programming) capabilities, allowing the PIC to be programmed while it is sitting in the target circuit. ICSP programming is performed using two pins, clock and data, while a high voltage (12V) is present on the Vpp/MCLR pin. Low voltage programming dispenses with the high voltage, but reserves exclusive use of an I/O pin and can therefore be disabled to recover the pin for other uses (once disabled it can only be re-enabled using high voltage programming).

There are many programmers for PIC microcontrollers, ranging from the extremely simple designs which rely on ICSP to allow direct download of code from a host computer, to intelligent programmers that can verify the device at several supply voltages. Many of these complex programmers use a pre-programmed PIC themselves to send the programming commands to the PIC that is to be programmed. The intelligent type of programmer is needed to program earlier PIC models (mostly EPROM type) which do not support in-circuit programming.

Many of the higher ends flash based PICs can also self-program (write to their own program memory). Demo boards are available with a small boot loader factory programmed that can be used to load user programs over an interface such as RS-232 or USB, thus obviating the need for a programmer device. Alternatively there is boot loader firmware available that the user can load onto the PIC using ICSP. The advantages of a boot loader over ICSP is the far superior programming speeds, immediate program execution following programming, and the ability to both debug and program using the same cable.

Programmers/debuggers are available directly from Microchip. Third party programmers range from plans to build your own, to self-assembly kits and fully tested ready-to-go units. Some are simple designs which require a PC to do the low-level programming signalling (these typically connect to the serial or parallel port and consist of a few simple components), while others have the programming logic built into them (these typically use a serial or USB connection, are usually faster, and are often built using PICs themselves for control).

PIC Programmer (Program Burner)

Crystal Oscillator (20MHz)

PIC 16F877A has an on-chip RC oscillator but it is used for ADC operation. But the external oscillators (usually 4 - 20MHz) are required for operating the PIC.

Week 9 of FYP 1

Date: 11/11/2013 – 14/11/2013 (Monday to Thursday)

Title: Research and Findings (Relay)

Introduction

A relay is an electrically operated switch. Current flowing through the coil of the relay creates a magnetic field which attracts a lever and changes the switch contacts. The coil current can be on or off so relays have two switch positions and most have double throw (changeover) switch contacts.

Relays allow one circuit to switch a second circuit which can be completely separate from the first. For example a low voltage battery circuit can use a relay to switch a 230V AC mains circuit. There is no electrical connection inside the relay between the two circuits; the link is magnetic and mechanical.

The coil of a relay passes a relatively large current, typically 30mA for a 12V relay, but it can be as much as 100mA for relays designed to operate from lower voltages. Most ICs (chips) cannot provide this current and a transistor is usually used to amplify the small IC current to the larger value required for the relay coil. The maximum output current for the popular 555 timer IC is 200mA so these devices can supply relay coils directly without amplification.

Relays are usually SPDT or DPDT but they can have many more sets of switch contacts, for example relays with 4 sets of changeover contacts are readily available. Most relays are designed for PCB mounting but we can solder wires directly to the pins providing us to avoid melting the plastic case of the relay.

The supplier's catalogue should show you the relay's connections. The coil will be obvious and it may be connected either way round. Relay coils produce brief high voltage 'spikes' when they are switched off and this can destroy transistors and ICs in the circuit. To prevent damage we must connect a protection diode across the relay coil.

The relay's switch connections are usually labelled COM, NC and NO:

COM = Common, always connect to this; it is the moving part of the switch.

NC = Normally Closed, COM is connected to this when the relay coil is off.

NO = Normally Open, COM is connected to this when the relay coil is on.

Relay Circuit

Selection of the Relays

There are several features that need to be considered when choosing a relay:

Physical size and pin arrangement

- If we are choosing a relay for an existing PCB we will need to ensure that its dimensions and pin arrangement are suitable. We should find this information in the supplier's catalogue.

Coil voltage

- The relay's coil voltage rating and resistance must suit the circuit powering the relay coil. Many relays have a coil rated for a 12V supply but 5V and 24V relays are also readily available. Some relays operate perfectly well with a supply voltage which is a little lower than their rated value.

Coil resistance

- The circuit must be able to supply the current required by the relay coil. We can use Ohm's law to calculate the current:

Relay coil current  = supply voltage/coil resistance

For example: A 12V supply relay with a coil resistance of 400ohm passes a current of 30mA. This is OK for a 555 timer IC (maximum output current 200mA), but it is too much for most ICs and they will require a transistor to amplify the current.

Switch ratings (voltage and current)

- The relay's switch contacts must be suitable for the circuit they are to control. You will need to check the voltage and current ratings. Note that the voltage rating is usually higher for AC, for example: "5A at 24V DC or 125V AC".

Protection diodes for relays

Protection diode for a relay Transistors and ICs must be protected from the brief high voltage produced when a relay coil is switched off. The diagram shows how a signal diode (ex. 1N4148) is connected 'backwards' across the relay coil to provide this protection.

Current flowing through a relay coil creates a magnetic field which collapses suddenly when the current is switched off. The sudden collapse of the magnetic field induces a brief high voltage across the relay coil which is very likely to damage transistors and ICs. The protection diode allows the induced voltage to drive a brief current through the coil (and diode) so the magnetic field dies away quickly rather than instantly. This prevents the induced voltage becoming high enough to cause damage to transistors and ICs.

Protection Diode For Relay

Week 10 of FYP 1

Date: 22/11/2013 (Friday)

Title: Presentation Day

- 2.15pm (setup table, setup laptop)

- All students of FYP 1 must register at 2.30pm

- Start 3.00pm – 5.00pm

- 2.30pm (Access Begin)

- Accessed by Sir Mohd Zubir B Suboh and Siti Afifah Bt Mohshim

Presentation Requirements:

• 19 Slide (Minimum 8 Slide)
• Present 10-15 minutes
• Check with the supervisor first before presentation day

Contents:

•  Introduction
• Problem Statements
•  Aim & Objectives
• Scope & Limitation
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Expected Outcome
• Progress work (30% Not necessary)

·          

Comments & Recommendations by Assessors:

- The presentation was running smoothly but there were some comments and recommendations given by the assessors.

- Sir Zubir had given his recommendation of how to expend and wider the implementation of my project such as at Gas Tank storage facilities, in the kitchen, and so on.

- Madam Afifah also gave her recommendation of using LPG Sensor rather than Methane MQ-4 Gas Sensor so that it is easier to demonstrate during Engineers Day as acquiring Methane Gas is rather difficult.