Combustible gas detector having flow-through sensor container and method for measuring such gases
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorYuzef Gokhfeld
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method to measure combustible gases using a catalytic sensor includes: housing the catalytic sensor in a flow-through chamber isolated from a volume of ambient gas; periodically drawing into the chamber a sample of the ambient gas; burning on the catalytic sensor and in the chamber the combustible gas in the sample of ambient gas, e.g. essentially until the completion of burn out, and measuring the plurality of output signals of the sensor synchronously with the interrupted ambient gas sampling while burning the sample on the catalytic sensor.
Claims16
A method to measure combustible gases using a catalytic sensor comprising:
- housing the catalytic sensor in a flow-through chamber to minimize gas diffusion to the sensor from a volume of ambient gas;
- drawing a gas sample of the ambient gas into the chamber from the volume;
- measuring a first output of the catalytic sensor as the ambient gas flows into the chamber;
- interrupting the flow of the ambient gas into the chamber;
- measuring a second output of the catalytic sensor during the flow interruption, and
- determining a condition of the combustible gases based on the first output and the second output.
A method to measure combustible gases using a catalytic sensor comprising:
- housing the catalytic sensor in a flow-through chamber to minimize gas diffusion to the sensor from a volume of ambient gas;
- drawing a discrete gas sample of the ambient gas into the chamber from the volume;
- interrupting a flow of the ambient gas into the chamber after the gas sample has flowed into the chamber, and measuring an output of the catalytic sensor synchronously with said interruption of the gas flow,
- wherein the steps of the drawing the gas sample, interrupting the flow and measuring the output are a measurement cycle, which cycle is repeated periodically and
- further comprising determining a concentration level of the combustible gases in the sample based on an amplitude of the variation in the sensor signal output alternating on the gas sampling frequency.
A method to measure combustible gases using a catalytic sensor comprising:
- housing the catalytic sensor in a flow-through chamber to minimize gas diffusion to the sensor from a volume of ambient gas;
- drawing a discrete gas sample of the ambient gas into the chamber from the volume;
- interrupting a flow of the ambient gas into the chamber after the gas sample has flowed into the chamber, and
- measuring an output of the catalytic sensor synchronously with said interruption of the gas flow,
- wherein prior to drawing the flow into the chamber, the method further comprises:
- purging the chamber of ambient gas;
- burning residual combustible gases in the chamber, and
- measuring a reference output signal from the catalytic sensor after burning the residual combustible gases in the chamber.
A method to measure combustible gases using a catalytic sensor comprising:
- housing the catalytic sensor in a flow-through chamber to minimize gas diffusion to the sensor from a volume of ambient gas;
- drawing a gas sample of the ambient gas into the chamber from the volume;
- measuring a first output of the catalytic sensor as the ambient gas flows into the chamber;
- interrupting the flow of the ambient gas into the chamber;
- measuring a second output of the catalytic sensor during the flow interruption, and
- determining a condition of the combustible gases based on the first output and the second output,
- wherein the interruption of flow and measurement of the second output precedes drawing the gas sample and measuring the first output.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.