It is produced whenever carbon or carbonaceous matter is burnt with insufficient supply of oxygen. The gas is colourless, odourless, tasteless and non irritating. It is only slightly lighter than air (sp. gr. 0.967) and combustible but does not support combustion. It is hardly soluble in water, 100 vols of water dissovling 2.3 vols. of gas at 20 C. In air it burns with a light blue flame to CO, It forms an explosve mixt ure with air when.present within the range of nearly 1 2 % and 75 % by vol . Critical temp . 140 C, critical pressure 35 atmos. The production of CO in a mine may be due to any one or more of the following cases:- Oxidation of coal and other carbonaceous matter. Due to explosion Due to spontaneous combustion Due to methane or coaldust explosion Due to running of underground machinery • PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CARBON MONOXIDE carbon monoxide is a very poisonous gas and its affinity for the haemoglobin of the blood is nearly 300 times that of oxygen.If CO is present even in small quantities in the inhaled air it is difficult for blood to absorb proper quantity of oxygen to support life because of the formation of stable carbooxyhaemonglobin when carbon monoxide reacts with haemoglobin a person exposed to atmosphere containing CO may not know that he is inhaling the poisonous gas unless he is equipped with Co detecting devices.Carbon monoxide imparts a pink tinge to the blood and a man thus poisoned presents when alive and even in death for some time, a most life like appcarance. The effects of breathing air containing CO are: % of CO in air 002 headache, discomfort and possibility of collapse after 45 minutes at work or two hours at rest 0.2 – unconsciousness afte 10minutes at work or 30mts.at rest. r0.5 to 1.0 Death after 10- 15 mts. of work The after effects of CO poisoning are headache, loss of strength, and in some cases, even paralysis. • DETECTION OF CARBON MONOXIDE: An efficient method should be adopted to detect CO in the initial stages itself. For this purpose warm blooded birds like munia or mouse are commonly used as they are affected much earlier than man by CO. Such birds form the essential equipment of a rescue party entering a mine after explosion or fire . Only fresh birds are used as some may get accustomed to small percentages of the gas . With 0.15 % of CO present in the air a bird shows distress (ruffing of feathers, pronounced chirping and loss of liveliness ) in 3 mts and falls off its perch in 18 mts . With 0.3 % CO the bird shows almost immediate distress and falls off its perch in 2-3 mts. Immediate signs of distress are not likely to be observed on birds when exposed to only 0.1 % of CO ; they are visible only when the concentration is more than 0.3 % . Ordinary sparrows are not suitable for CO detection and in an atmosphere containing CO to the extent of 1 to 2% the sparrows did not exhibit any signs of distress untill they were dead . For atmospheres containing more than 0.15 % carbon monoxide , as is met with in mine resuce work , a cage with munia birds is a good indicator. • Carbon monoxide detectors are based on the chemical reaction of CO with certain resulting in a change of colour The chemicals are kept in detector tubes which are sealed at both ends and can be stored for 12 years . The seals are broken at site just before detection of gas percentage and the tube inserted into an aspirator which draws in mine air . The air containing CO causes change in the colour ofthe chemicals in the tube . The resulting colour is cornpared to a standard chart by which the percentage o fCO can be known . Some of the detectors are : • THE P.S DETECTOR • The P S. Detector consist of a glass tube containing silica gel impregnated with light yellow potassium palladium sulphite with silica gel at both ends for absorbing other gases. A fixed volume of air (120cubic cm) is drawn through a tube at a constant rate over a period of two minutes through a calibrated orifice by operating a rubber aspirator .Carbon monoxide in the air turns the light yellow colour of potassium palladium sulphite to brown and the length of colour change from one end of the tube idicates its concentration.Range of the instrument is 0005 % to 0.12 % of CO. The detector is manufactured by Siebe Gorman and Co. Ltd., Britain. • The Hopcalite detector: The generation of heat on the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide has been utilised by a detector manufactured by the Mine Safety Appliance Co. USA. It consists of an analysing cell containing hopcalite, which is a specially prepared mixture of manganese dioxide and copper oxide. Air is drawn into the cell by a hand operated pump. Carbon monoxide in the air is catalytically oxidised by hopcalite and the rise in temperature so produced is recorded by a thermocouple connected in series to a meter which is calibrated in the percentage of carbon monoxide. Range of the instrument is from 0.005 to 0.015 % carbon monoxide. • The Hoolamite Tube • In another detector hoolamite which is a mixture of iodine pentoxide and sulphuric acid is used. The greyish white colour of hoolamite will be converted to a shade of green, brown or black by the reaction of CO which liberates iodine. The percentage of CO may be estimated from a colour chart. Carbon monoxide detecting of M.S.A Ltd • The firm of M.S.A. markets CO detecting instrument which consists of an aspirator, a colour comparing scale and CO detecting tubes .The CO Detector (Aspirator) allows the user to use a variable number of squeezes (1, 2 or 5), thereby enabling detection of CO concentrations from as low as 10 ppm to as high as 1000 ppm by the colorimetric process i.e. comparison of colours. The tube contains a chemical (yellow sílica gel impregnated with palladium sulphate and ammonium molybdate) and sealed at both ends. It is inserted at the spot of detection into the CO detecting aspirator after breaking the sealed tips. The aspirator bulb (60c.c) is squeezed once, twice of 5 times and the CO sucked into the instrument changes the colour of the chemi cal in the tube to green. The extent of colour change s on the percentage of CO. Each squeeze of the bulb (60 c.c. capacity) sucks in a fixed volume of the air to be sampled which passes through a detector tube fixed at the intake end. • If the percentage of CO is small, upto 10 ppm 5 squeczes of the aspirator r bulb are ne lb are necessary The yellow reacting gel is moisture sensitive and the guard gel is not sufficient to remove t in large volumes. The tubes are available in packs of 10 and a tube can be used only once.