Calorimetric Thermoelectric Gas Sensor for the Detection of Hydrogen, Methane and Mixed Gases

Sensors

Nam-Hee Park¹  Takafumi Akamatsu¹  Toshio Itoh¹  Noriya Izu¹ 

[1] National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Shimo-Shidami, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya 4638560, Japan;

关键词: calorimeter;    thermoelectric gas sensor;    dual catalyst;    methane;    hydrogen;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s140508350

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A novel miniaturized calorimeter-type sensor device with a dual-catalyst structure was fabricated by integrating different catalysts on the hot (Pd/θ-Al₂O₃) and cold (Pt/α-Al₂O₃) ends of the device. The device comprises a calorimeter with a thermoelectric gas sensor (calorimetric-TGS), combining catalytic combustion and thermoelectric technologies. Its response for a model fuel gas of hydrogen and methane was investigated with various combustor catalyst compositions. The calorimetric-TGS devices detected H₂, CH₄, and a mixture of the two with concentrations ranging between 200 and 2000 ppm at temperatures of 100–400 °C, in terms of the calorie content of the gases. It was necessary to reduce the much higher response voltage of the TGS to H₂ compared to CH₄. We enhanced the H₂ combustion on the cold side so that the temperature differences and response voltages to H₂ were reduced. The device response to H₂ combustion was reduced by 50% by controlling the Pt concentration in the Pt/α-Al₂O₃ catalyst on the cold side to 3 wt%.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.