Method of sensing
AssigneeSumitomo Chemical Company, Limited
InventorsPascal Cachelin, Daniel Tobjork
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of sensing a target material in an environment is disclosed. The method comprises exposing a sensor to an environment for a first exposure period. The method further comprises, following the first exposure period, isolating the sensor from any target material in the environment for a first isolation period wherein the first isolation period is less than a characteristic recovery period for the sensor to return to a baseline after the first exposure period. The method further comprises, following the first isolation period, exposing the sensor to the environment for a second exposure period, and determining a concentration of the target material from a response of the sensor during the second exposure or a response of the sensor during the first and second exposure.
Claims11
A method of sensing a target gas in an environment comprising:
- exposing an electrochemical gas sensor to the environment for a first exposure period, wherein the sensor has:
- a known magnitude of response to the target gas upon exposure to the target gas for the first exposure period;
- a known magnitude of response to one or more interferents upon exposure to the one or more interferents for the first exposure period;
- a known rate of recovery after exposure to the target gas following the first exposure period;
- and
- a known rate of recovery after exposure to the one or more interferents following the first exposure period;
- following the first exposure period, isolating the electrochemical gas sensor from any of the target gas in the environment for a first isolation period wherein the first isolation period is less than a characteristic recovery period for the electrochemical gas sensor to return to a baseline after the first exposure period and is a period in which the electrochemical gas sensor response returns to between 90% and 10% of a peak response after exposure to the target gas;
- following the first isolation period, exposing the electrochemical gas sensor to the environment for a second exposure period;
- and
- determining a concentration of the target gas from a response of the electrochemical gas sensor during the second exposure period or a response of the sensor during the first and second exposure periods,
- wherein the magnitude of response of the electrochemical gas sensor to any of the target gas in the environment is greater than the magnitude of response of the electrochemical gas sensor to any of the one or more interferents in the environment and the rate of recovery of the electrochemical gas sensor to any of the target gas is faster than the rate of recovery of the electrochemical gas sensor to the one or more interferents during the first isolation period, and wherein the concentration of the target gas is determined by measuring a change in response of the electrochemical gas sensor during the second exposure period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.