Gas concentration measurement with temperature compensation

A method for measuring a concentration of a gas component in an atmosphere of a package, which is produced from a plastic film in a packaging machine and has a gas concentration indicator substance on a side the plastic film facing the atmosphere,

• wherein the gas concentration indicator substance is exposed to an electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength, the gas concentration indicator substance is excited with a plurality of pulses, which then emits light at a different wavelength than the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation, and the gas concentration is determined on a basis of a decay curve of the emitted light,
• wherein at least one temperature correction parameter is determined for a category of the plastic film, the category of the plastic film is polyethylene film, polypropylene film, or an amorphous polyethylene terephthalate film,
• wherein the at least one temperature correction parameter is stored in a memory of a computer, and the at least one temperature correction parameter is retrieved from the memory during a change out of the plastic film, the at least one temperature correction parameter is utilized in determining the concentration of the gas component,
• wherein the at least one temperature correction parameter is determined on the plastic film currently in use,
• wherein fluorophor in the gas concentration indicator substance emits red light, and an intensity of the red light decays over time, and
• wherein a gas exchange in the packaging machine is controlled according to the measured concentration of the gas,
• wherein the method comprises:
• i) generating a reference package;
• ii) measuring and recording one or more temperature parameters of the reference package during cooling of the reference package to determine a cooling curve of the reference package;
• and
• iii) determining the at least one temperature correction parameter from the cooling curve of the reference package.