MAPUA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

School of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering

MULTI GAS DETECTOR USING LIGHT AND

BUZZER AS INDICATORS
A Research Paper Presented to
Professor Eric Navarro
Mapa Institute of Technology

in partial fulfillment
of the requirements in
LOGIC CIRCUITS AND SWITCHING THEORY LABORATORY
(COE117L A3)

By:
James Rigor Camacho
Angeli Leao
Ann Dante Mary Planco
Gabriel Kristofer Sandoval
Erick C. Valverde

DECEMBER 2014

MULTI GAS DETECTOR USING LIGHT AND

BUZZER AS INDICATORS
James Rigor Camacho#1, Angeli Leao*2, Ann Dante Mary Planco#3, Gabriel Kristofer Sandoval#4,
Erick Valverde#5
#

Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Mapua Institute of Technology

Intramuros Manila, Philippines
1

james_camacho27@yahoo.com
2
angeli_leao2000@yahoo.com
3
andary03_planco@yahoo.com
4
gabsandoval17@gmail.com
5
erickvalverde@rocketmail.com

AbstractEducation plays a very important role in the

different aspects of a human person. It helps us develop our
skills and talents, and it provides us with knowledge and
understanding which are all useful for our future endeavors.
As students of Mapua Institute of Technology, this research
contributes to the fulfilment of our schools visionMapua
shall be among the best universities in the world. This also
helps in the accomplishment of the institutes mission which is
to acquire the attributes that will make us globally
competitive, to engage in economically viable research,
development and innovation and to provide state-of-the-art
solutions to problems of industries and communities. This
research mainly focus on Multi Gas Detector Using Light and
Buzzer as Indicators. This Multi Gas Detector can be used to
make wireless Gas leak detector in home and/or at work
security system. Whenever gas is leaked the sensor detects and
it passes signal to timer circuit. Here we have used IC 555
timer which acts as a stable multivibrator. Then it will be
given to Transistor driver circuit which activates buzzer and
LED and alerts the user through audio-visual indications. The
students studied and discovered that alcohol, cigarette smoke
and LPG gas works completely fine in the said detector. To
conclude, this detector plays a very important role in our
society for this can be a source for the advancement of one
society and country at large specifically for safety and security
awareness in the workplace. And finally, this study makes
students highly and globally competitive engineers who are
able to communicate and contribute well to the real world.

The students gathered different data to discover to which

specific gas this detector will work. This project uses MQ-x
gas sensor (i.e. MQ-2 and MQ-5) in one board. And using
MQs datasheet we discover which suitable gas will work.
This Multi Gas Detector has been tested using alcohol,
cigarette smoke and Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) gas.
The students has been recorded that these three specific gas
work completely fine with the detector. Oxygen gas (20%)
and Nitrogen gas (79%) as the approximate composition
present in the air never work in this detector.
B. List of Figures
555
Timer
Gas
based
Sensor
astable
multivibrat
or circuit

Buzzer
and LED
Alert

Transistor
Driver
Circuit

A. List of Tables

Will it work?
GAS

Yes

Alcohol

Cigarette
Smoke

LPG Gas

No

Oxygen

Nitrogen

Table 1. What specific gas will work with Multi Gas Detector?

Figure 1. Block Diagram of Multi Gas Detector

In this project we have used MQx gas sensor. Whenever
LPG gas, alcohol and/ or cigarette smoke is leaked the
sensor detects and it passes signal to timer circuit. Here we
have used IC 555 timer which acts as a stable multivibrator.
Then it will be given to Transistor driver circuit which
activates buzzer and LED and alerts the user through
audio-visual indications.

Chapter 1:
Design background and introduction
Our industry and community are making use of the
renewable and non-renewable energy sources which are
reserved for different purposes and applications of human
in their home and business. Among all the non-renewable
energy sources found, there are four major sources of nonrenewable energy which human mainly collect and use,
those are: crude oil, natural gas, coal and uranium (nuclear
energy) . Those energy sources are very important in every
human way of living to sustain and catalyse their functions
or purposes.
Figure 2. Multi Gas Detector Schematics

Aside from that, aforementioned kinds of nonrenewable energy sources can also be very dangerous to
human when not properly handled. This gives the human
the need to make a place to store non-renewable energy
such as gas plant and think of a better and safer way to use
these sources for smaller consumptions. As a result, human
made a by-product of natural gas and crude oil such as
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). LPG is also a nonrenewable fuel source which was made to be a cleaner
alternative to many fuels, but a leak which may result to
combustion does produce pollutants and danger to life.
From that reason, we come up with an idea of creating a
device which alarms when theres a leak of combustible or
harmful gases around a certain area; this device is called
multi gas detector using light and buzzer as indicators.

Figure 3. Pin Details of Gas Sensor Module

The main purpose of creating the device is to prevent

or lessen the loss of fuel sources from leakage and to avoid
any incident due to negligence. Be noted that this device
has a certain range set for the kind and amount of gas
which it can detect. Its sensitivity can be adjusted from
small (200ppm) to high (10000ppm), depending on the
amount of resistance applied by the potentiometer. The
kind of gases which it can detect includes: LPG which is
composed of propane, butane or mix of the two, and others
like ethyl alcohol and cigarette smoke. It was also made
portable to make it more available to small scale
consumers.

Here is a circuit that detects the leakage of LPG

gas, alcohol and/or cigarette smoke and alerts the user
through audio-visual indications. Figure 2 shows the circuit
of the gas leakage alarm. The circuit operates off a 9V PP3
battery. Zener diode ZD1 is used to convert 9V into 5V DC
to drive the gas sensor module. Its output goes high when
the gas level reaches or exceeds certain point. A preset in
the module is used to set the threshold. Interfacing with the
sensor module is done through a 3-pin SIP header. Pin
details of the gas sensor module are shown in Fig. 3.
An MQ-x gas sensor is used in the gas sensor
module. As per its datasheet, it has high sensitivity to LPG
gas, alcohol and cigarette smoke. This circuit has been
tested with LPG gas, alcohol and cigarette smoke and was
found to work satisfactorily. As for example, whenever
there is LPG concentration of 1000ppm (parts per million)
in the area, the OUT pin of the sensor module goes high.
This signal drives timer IC 555, which is wired as an
astable multivibrator. The multivibrator basically works as
a tone generator. Output pin 3 of IC 555 is connected to
LED1 and speaker-driver transistor SL100 through currentlimiting resistors R5 and R4, respectively. LED1 glows and
the alarm sounds to alert the user of gas leakage.

Chapter 2:
Project development procedures
The multi gas detector using light and buzzer as
indicators device is composed of three main parts:
indicators, gas sensor and the body. Each has its own
function which contributes to a single purpose which is to
detect gases.
Indicators
The indicators used as seen on Figure 2, are Light Emitting
Diodes (LED) with three different colors to indicate the
level of sensitivity of gas. The levels of sensitivity ranges

from low, medium, to high which is indicated by yellow,

green, and red LED lights, respectively. Aside from that, a
buzzer was also used as an alarm by the device and it is
connected series to the terminals of LED lights.
Body
The body of the device is composed of resistors, capacitors,
3-pin gas sensor connector and terminals for the V cc and
ground as seen on Figure 2.
Gas Sensor
The gas sensor used is a built-in circuit which has an on
board IC (LM339A), capacitors, resistors, diodes, and with
adjustable potentiometer for sensitivity as seen on Figure 3.
Chapter 3:
Purpose of the test:
The purpose of the multi gas detector is to sense any gas
leakages and to alert the users through the light and buzzers
as indicators. Using the MQx gas sensor, the LPG gas,
alcohol or cigarette smoke is leaked, the sensor detects and
it passes signal to timer circuit. At this point, the IC 555
timer acts as a stable multivibrator. Subsequently it will be
given to Transistor driver circuit which activates buzzer
and LED and alerts the user through audio-visual
indications.

The gas sensor and the indicators are connected by

the body that make the device. The 9-volt DC source
supplied power to the device through its terminals. The 5V
terminal of the sensor is connected to the V cc, its GND
terminal to the ground and its output terminal to the
positive terminal of the indicators. These indicators are
connected to the body of the device, wherein their positive
terminals are connected to the output terminal of the sensor
while their negative terminals are grounded. When the
sensor detects a gas, it will send an output signal which is a
high signal that makes the indicators function.
3.

Connect all the connections of the circuit requiring

+9V and GND signals to the +9V and GND outputs
respectively of the power supply.

4.

Turn ON the power supply.

5.

Select the gas for the first trial in testing. Extract the
gas from the container, and direct it to the MQ6 gas
detector.

6.

If the gas has been detected by the multi gas detector,

it activates the buzzer and LED and alerts the user
through audio-visual indications. If the sensor doesnt
detect any gas leakage, there are no gas leakage at all.

7.

After the first trial, repeat procedure 5 and 6, until all

the gas for testing is used.

Procedures to follow in conducting test:

Equipment and materials:
Prepare the following materials needed for testing the
laboratory project:
-

Type of Gas used for testing:

NOTE: Set the highest sensitivity of the circuit, in which

the gas can be detected accordingly.

LPG

Assumptions

Alcohol

Cigarette smoke

1 Multi gas detector circuit

After conducting the test, there are possible errors that we

may encounter. Like, if the circuit doesnt detect any gas
leakage, its either the circuit is set to be in a low sensitivity
or there are no gas leakage at all. Then if the case is at a
low sensitivity, we should set it to the higher sensitivity.

1 Set of connecting wires

Tabular Presentation

1 DC powers supply with +9V output capability

The table that we obtained during the test is shown below:

Procedure:

GAS

DETECTED
YES
NO

1.

Using the multi gas detector circuit, set the desired

sensitivity of the circuit in detecting the respective
gases.

1
2
3

2.

Set the power supply output to +9V.

Table 1000. Does the multi gas detector detects the specific gas?
Did the buzzer and the LED activates?

Alcohol
LPG
Cigarette smoke

Analysis and discussion of gathered data

Based on the table, the multi gas detector can detect
alcohol, LPG, and the cigarette smoke. As we extract the
specific gas to the MQ6, it easily detected by the sensor,
such that it is set in a high sensitivity. Since the gas has
been detected, the circuit activates the IC 555 timer, then it
initiates the transistor driver which triggers the buzzer to
create a loud noise, and the LED to have an alert.

Chapter 4
CONCLUSION
The objective of this project is to sense for gases so that
when there is gas leakage, it can alarm the user. Based on
the data, the gas sensor is effective. When there is leakage
of gases, the gases are being sense by MQ-x gas sensor
then it will be passed to the 555 timer multivibrator circuit.
After it senses the gas, it will turn on the LED and will set
the alarm on.

Concluding this project, it is helpful for ensuring

the security and safety of the user. The gas sensor can be
used for sensing gas leakage to prevent accidents. Also
based on the data, it can be used to sense any gas so that it
can be used for further experiments and projects. With the
help of technology, accidents are being prevented.
RECOMMENDATION
The following recommendation are offered in research

Can be used for further enhancements and

innovations
Can be used for teaching and anything in the field
of education
For students to have ideas

The following recommendation are offered in the field

For the security of houses especially for places

that has flammable gases.