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Title: Surface acoustic wave sensing of VOCs in harsh chemical environments

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10184126· OSTI ID:10184126

The measurement of VOC concentrations in harsh chemical and physical environments is a formidable task. A surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor has been designed for this purpose and its construction and testing are described in this paper. Included is a detailed description of the design elements specific to operation in 300{degree}C steam and HCl environments including temperature control, gas handling, and signal processing component descriptions. In addition, laboratory temperature stability was studied and a minimum detection limit was defined for operation in industrial environments. Finally, a description of field tests performed on steam reforming equipment at Synthetica Technologies Inc. of Richmond, CA is given including a report on destruction efficiency of CCl{sub 4} in the Synthetica moving bed evaporator. Design improvements based on the field tests are proposed.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
10184126
Report Number(s):
SAND-93-0070; ON: DE93040721
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Jun 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English