RAE expands its wireless detection offerings

Published 22 March 2007

AreaRAE systems, already a hit with the National Guard, receive a tune-up; new sensors can detect hydrogen chloride, hydrogen flouride, and carbon monoxide

Let’s check in again with San Jose, California-based RAE Systems. The last we heard from the company, it had supplied its portable AreaRAE WMD wireless sensor systems to fifty-five Guard Civil Support Teams and had signed a deal with Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Implant Science Corporation (ISC) to integrate that company’s QS-H150 portable explosives trace detector into the AreaRAE line. Now we hear even better news: the company this week announced that it has developed three new chemical specific electrochemical sensors for the AreaRAE system: hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), and high-range Carbon Monoxide (CO). In addition, the AreaRAE is now also available in a stainless-steel housing for the most rugged of deployments (including those of the National Guard units mentioned above.)

These new sensors, we hasten to point out, are not intended strictly for homeland security purposes, as the AreaRAE system is also ideal for industrial safety and monitoring purposes. The HCl sensor, for instance, is designed for use in acidic atmospheres, semiconductor manufacturing, rocket-fueling operations, and in hazardous material applications. The HF sensor is designed for use in oil refineries, petrochemical plants, nuclear power plants, department of energy applications, and emergency response. And the high-range CO sensor is designed for steel mills and metallurgy open-flame applications. All are “designed to meet stringent demands for extremely rugged environments, especially those that work on off-shore oil and gas platforms,” said RAE’s Thomas Negre.