Development of an Optical Gas Leak Sensor for Detecting Ethylene, Dimethyl Ether and Methane

Sensors

Qiulin Tan²  Xiangdong Pei²  Simin Zhu¹  Dong Sun²  Jun Liu²  Chenyang Xue²  Ting Liang¹  Wendong Zhang² 

[1] National Key Laboratory for Electronic Measurement Technology, Taiyuan 030051, Shanxi, China; E-Mails:;Key Laboratory of Instrumentation Science & Dynamic Measurement, North University of China, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan 030051, Shanxi, China; E-Mails:

关键词: optical gas leak sensor;    IR absorption spectrum;    ethylene;    dimethyl ether;    methane;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s130404157

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In this paper, we present an approach to develop an optical gas leak sensor that can be used to measure ethylene, dimethyl ether, and methane. The sensor is designed based on the principles of IR absorption spectrum detection, and comprises two crossed elliptical surfaces with a folded reflection-type optical path. We first analyze the optical path and the use of this structure to design a miniature gas sensor. The proposed sensor includes two detectors (one to acquire the reference signal and the other for the response signal), the light source, and the filter, all of which are integrated in a miniature gold-plated chamber. We also designed a signal detection device to extract the sensor signal and a microprocessor to calculate and control the entire process. The produced sensor prototype had an accuracy of ±0.05%. Experiments which simulate the transportation of hazardous chemicals demonstrated that the developed sensor exhibited a good dynamic response and adequately met technical requirements.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.