InstroTek Guard1™

Detecting People (Stowaway) inside Containers

Recently there has been an increase in the number of stowaway smuggling cases. This can be one person hiding in a small compartment, a package, in a vehicle, large trailers, or storage containers. Manually opening a container to check for a stowaway is labor intensive and time consuming.

Since the illegal aliens may be aware that the container in which they are hidden may be searched, they can conceal themselves to make a visual inspection even more difficult. Non-intrusive detection devices such as x-ray imaging can detect individuals contained within a trailer or vehicle however, these type of devices can be very expensive, costly to operate, and the radiation coming from x-ray machines may be harmful to the individuals who may be hidden within the trailer or container. InstroTek's Guard1™ is a new product innovation that in less than 3 minutes uses emissions from individuals or groups of people as a tell tale sign of the presence of people in concealed containers.

Humans release CO₂ and other gases. These include volatile organic compounds (VOC's), hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, nitric oxide, and ammonia. In an open area it can be difficult to detect increases in these gases beyond that which is ordinarily present as background in an open area. However, in a closed package or container the presence of even a single individual over a short period of time can result in increase in human emissions, which may be detected by sampling the air within the trailer. Guard1™ detects humans within a sealed container, trailer in a non-invasive way, which is not harmful to the individuals or cargo in less than 3 minutes.

Guard1™ continuously monitors VOCs from 0-1000 ppm and CO₂ from 0-20,000 ppm along with other gases. The emission gas measurements are used in combination as a human indicator index for a closed container. The Guard1 is battery operated and is designed for 24-hour continuous operation with a built in diaphragm pump that is used for sampling human emissions. The data transfer, data storage, data interpretation and user interface software for the unit is designed for ease of use.

Guard1™ is portable and lightweight and can be readily transported by an inspector. The pump and detection system is connected to a probe that is 2-3 ft long and a centimeter in diameter (1/4 inch).

Most containers have access points to the inside, which would allow the access to the inside of the container with the Guard1™ probe. The pump will then be activated to vacuum gas from inside the container and pull it through the hollow probe into the gas detection analyzers. Guard1™ is equipped with appropriate readout and software for indication of human presence in containers.

In operation, a one minute background level is taken and stored just outside of the area to be checked. This gives the unit a baseline. Once the background level is sampled, the probe is inserted into the enclosed area to be checked. The interior air is sampled for one minute and analyzed. The processor will then calculate the probability of one or more individuals being inside the enclosed area or trailer by comparing the results from the gas detectors for the air sample inside the trailer with the background air.