Bump Gas

A quantity of gas that is designed to quickly test the functioning of a gas detector instrument by triggering all of its alarm thresholds, eg., air containing less than 18 Vol.% of oxygen, 2.5% of Methane, 200 ppm of carbon monoxide and 40 ppm of hydrogen sulfide. In most situations, standard calibration gas mixtures are used, although bump testing allows for cheaper and less precisely controlled mixtures. There are instruments to automatically bump test one or more gas detectors, registering every bump test and calibration action to rigorously monitor the state of the gas detection equipment in use.