Contents I. Introduction
Ensuring the safety and operational efficiency of navy ships is critical, especially in high-risk environments where hazardous gases can pose threats to both personnel and equipment. Gas leaks, if undetected, can lead to catastrophic consequences such as fires, explosions, or harmful exposure to toxic fumes. Current gas detection systems in ships often rely on wired sensor networks or wireless communication systems that may suffer from signal interference, especially in metal-rich environments like navy ships [1]. There are various methods presently applied to detect the leakage of gas on naval vessels with different advantages but, at the same time experiencing limitations in this challenging setting of a ship. Electrochemical sensors are mainly used to detect toxic gases. An electrochemical sensor emits an electric signal when the sensor touches the gas. This is a relatively inexpensive device and energy-efficient but still requires frequent tuning and tends to be susceptible to variation in temperature and humidity levels [2]. Infrared gas detectors detect hydrocarbon gases by measuring the absorption of infrared light. Though IR detectors are not so prone to interference from the environment’ they are expensive and require a direct line of sight, which can be hard to maintain in confined areas of a ship [3]. Another very common method is catalytic bead sensors, which identify flammable gases based on a reaction caused when these gases are made to react with a heated bead resulting in a detectable change in temperature. The problem, however lies in that these sensors use more energy and require periodic maintenance especially in wet and dusty areas [4]. Ultrasonic gas leak detectors detect high-pressure leaks based on the fact that ultrasonic sound waves caused by escaping gas can be detected. Although they work well with noisy environments, ultrasonic sensors are not that consistent in terms of miniature low-pressure leak detection and can be affected in areas of poor tight space conditions. This led to the development of wireless sensor networks that integrated and positioned flexible real-time monitoring onboard a ship, which often resulted in performance failure due to metal interference because of limited RF regions. These barriers introduce the need for an alternative that will be able to avoid the limits of systems currently in place, driving interest in applying Light Fidelity technology towards improved detection of gas within complex environments of a ship [5].
Working of li-fi
