The detection of mixtures of hydrogen and nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) with catalyst-based sensors
- Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Mixtures of H{sub 2} and N{sub 2}O can be flammable (explosive) just like H{sub 2}/O{sub 2} mixtures. The determination of a flammable mixture depends on knowledge of both the partial pressures of H{sub 2} and the oxidants. Concern about such flammable mixtures has increased because of the periodic release of these mixtures in the large radioactive, mixed waste tanks in Hanford, WA. The Sandia Robust Hydrogen Sensor (SRH) gives accurate information about the partial pressure of hydrogen around the flammability limit (4% by volume, 30 Torr partial pressure), as well as partial pressures from about 1 ppm to 760 Torr. The authors have previously published results, concerning the use of different catalytic alloys on the SRH to distinguish H{sub 2}NO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}/NO, H{sub 2}/O{sub 2} mixtures from each other and H{sub 2} alone using training sets of a large number of concentrations of all the species and the Sandia pattern recognition algorithm. However, the authors report here a new result that no concentration of N{sub 2}O had an effect on the SRH sensor signal from H{sub 2} mixtures even up to 175{degrees}C. Apparently N{sub 2}O is too weak an oxidizing agent compared with NO, NO{sub 2} and O{sub 2} to compete with H{sub 2} for sites on the catalyst surface of the SRH sensor even at a partial pressure of 140 Torr.
- OSTI ID:
- 441274
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960782-; TRN: 96:006557-0045
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. international meeting on chemical sensors, Gaithersburg, MD (United States), 22-25 Jul 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of The 6th international meeting on chemical sensors; PB: 313 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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