AOI [3] High-Temperature Nano-Derived Micro-H2 and - H2S Sensors
- West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
The emissions from coal-fired power plants remain a significant concern for air quality. This environmental challenge must be overcome by controlling the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) throughout the entire coal combustion process. One of the processes which could specifically benefit from robust, low cost, and high temperature compatible gas sensors is the coal gasification process which converts coal and/or biomass into syngas. Hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur compounds make up 33%, 43% and 2% of syngas, respectively. Therefore, development of a high temperature (>500°C) chemical sensor for in-situ monitoring of H2, H2S and SO22 levels during coal gasification is strongly desired. The selective detection of SO2/H2S in the presence of H2, is a formidable task for a sensor designer. In order to ensure effective operation of these chemical sensors, the sensor system must inexpensively function within harsh temperature and chemical environment. Currently available sensing approaches, which are based on gas chromatography, electrochemistry, and IR-spectroscopy, do not satisfy the required cost and performance targets. This work focused on the development microsensors that can be applied to this application. In order to develop the high- temperature compatible microsensor, this work addressed various issues related to sensor stability, selectivity, and miniaturization. In the research project entitled “High-Temperature Nano-Derived Micro-H2 and -H2S Sensors”, the team worked to develop micro-scale, chemical sensors and sensor arrays composed of nano-derived, metal-oxide composite materials to detect gases like H2, SO2, and H2S within high-temperature environments (>500°C). The research was completed in collaboration with NexTech Materials, Ltd. (Lewis Center, Ohio). NexTech assisted in the testing of the sensors in syngas with contaminate levels of H2S. The idea of including nanomaterials as the sensing material within resistive-type chemical sensor platforms was to increase the sensitivity (as shown for room temperature applications). Unfortunately, nanomaterials are not stable at high temperatures due to sintering and coarsening processes that are driven by their high surface to volume ratio. Therefore, new hydrogen and sulfur selective nanomaterial systems with high selectivity and stability properties in the proposed harsh environment were investigated. Different nano-morphologies of zirconate, molybdate, and tungstate compounds were investigated. The fabrication of the microsensors consisted of the deposition of the selective nanomaterial systems over metal based interconnects on an inert substrate. This work utilized the chemi-resistive (resistive- type) microsensor architecture where the chemically and structurally stable, high temperature compatible electrodes were sputtered onto a ceramic substrate. The nanomaterial sensing systems were deposited over the electrodes using a lost mold method patterned by conventional optical lithography. The microsensor configuration with optimized nanomaterial system was tested and compared to a millimeter-size sensor e outcomes of this research will contribute to the economical application of sensor arrays for simultaneous sensing of H2, H2S, and SO2.
- Research Organization:
- West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown, WV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Contributing Organization:
- NexTech Materials, Ltd., Lewis Center, OH (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0003872
- OSTI ID:
- 1158798
- Report Number(s):
- New
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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