Precision and Limits of Detection for Selected Commercially Available, Low-Cost Carbon Dioxide and Methane Gas Sensors

The performance of a sensor platform for environmental or industrial monitoring is sensitive to the cost and performance of the individual sensor elements. Thus, the detection limits, accuracy, and precision of commercially available, low-cost carbon dioxide and methane gas concentration sensors were evaluated by precise measurements at known gas concentrations. Sensors were selected based on market availability, cost, power consumption, detection range, and accuracy. A specially constructed gas mixing chamber, coupled to a precision bench-top analyzer, was used to characterize each sensor during a controlled exposure to known gas concentrations. For environmental monitoring, the selected carbon dioxide sensors were characterized around 400 ppm. For methane, the sensor response was first monitored at 0 ppm, close to the typical environmental background. The selected sensors were then evaluated at gas concentrations of several thousand ppm. The determined detection limits accuracy, and precision provides a set of matrices that can be used to evaluate and select sensors for integration into a sensor platform for specific applications.

[1]  Lloyd A. Currie,et al.  DETECTION : INTERNATIONAL UPDATE, AND SOME EMERGING DI-LEMMAS INVOLVING CALIBRATION, THE BLANK, AND MULTIPLE DETECTION DECISIONS , 1997 .

[2]  Andrea Cannata,et al.  High time resolution fluctuations in volcanic carbon dioxide degassing from Mount Etna , 2014 .

[4]  Bruno Morten,et al.  Thick-film sensors: an overview , 1986 .

[5]  S. Ahlersa,et al.  A rate equation approach to the gas sensitivity of thin film metal oxide materials , 2005 .

[6]  George W. Kling,et al.  Performance of a low-cost methane sensor for ambient concentration measurements in preliminary studies , 2012 .

[7]  Giovanni Neri,et al.  First Fifty Years of Chemoresistive Gas Sensors , 2015 .

[8]  J. Mueller,et al.  Formation of artefacts while sampling emissions of PCDD/PCDF from open burning of biomass. , 2012, Chemosphere.

[9]  Alexander Baranov,et al.  Energy efficient planar catalytic sensor for methane measurement , 2013 .

[10]  O. Hasekamp,et al.  A large increase in U.S. methane emissions over the past decade inferred from satellite data and surface observations , 2016 .

[11]  Analytical capabilities of chemiresistive microsensor arrays in a simulated Martian atmosphere , 2014 .

[12]  Judith G. Moore,et al.  Interactive Plotting Program , 1988 .

[13]  T. J. Blasing.  Recent Greenhouse Gas Concentrations , 2009 .

[14]  Anna Karion,et al.  Evaluation and environmental correction of ambient CO2 measurements from a low-cost NDIR sensor. , 2017, Atmospheric measurement techniques.

[15]  S. Phanichphant,et al.  Semiconducting metal oxides as sensors for environmentally hazardous gases , 2011 .

[16]  Burcin Becerik-Gerber,et al.  A systematic approach to occupancy modeling in ambient sensor-rich buildings , 2014, Simul..

[17]  Shannon E. Stitzel,et al.  Cross-reactive chemical sensor arrays. , 2000, Chemical reviews.

[18]  Stephan F. J. De Wekker,et al.  Potential of a low-cost gas sensor for atmospheric methane monitoring , 2017 .

[19]  Thomas Williams,et al.  Gnuplot 4.4: an interactive plotting program , 2010 .

[20]  Lawrence H. Keith,et al.  Principles of environmental analysis , 1983 .

[21]  Norashidah Md. Din,et al.  Performance of labscale solar powered wireless landfill monitoring system , 2009, 2009 3rd International Conference on Energy and Environment (ICEE).

[22]  Hui Guohua,et al.  Study of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) quality predictive model based on electronic nose , 2012 .

[23]  G. Scollary,et al.  A statistical overview of standard (IUPAC and ACS) and new procedures for determining the limits of detection and quantification: Application to voltammetric and stripping techniques (Technical Report) , 1997 .

[24]  Lizhi Xiao,et al.  Remote real-time monitoring system for oil and gas well based on wireless sensor networks , 2010, 2010 International Conference on Mechanic Automation and Control Engineering.

[25]  Dong Xiang,et al.  Metal Oxide Gas Sensors: Sensitivity and Influencing Factors , 2010, Sensors.

[26]  Kea-Tiong Tang,et al.  Towards a Chemiresistive Sensor-Integrated Electronic Nose: A Review , 2013, Sensors.

[27]  Mocak,et al.  A STATISTICAL OVERVIEW OF STANDARD ( IUPAC AND ACS ) AND NEW PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING THE LIMITS OF DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION : APPLICATION TO VOLTAMMETRIC AND STNPPING TECHNIQUES , 2004 .

[28]  J. Therkorn,et al.  Outdoor near-roadway, community and residential pollen, carbon dioxide and particulate matter measurements in the urban core of an agricultural region in central CA , 2012 .

[29]  J. D. Winefordner,et al.  Limit of detection. A closer look at the IUPAC definition , 1983 .

[30]  N. Barsan,et al.  Fundamental and practical aspects in the design of nanoscaled SnO2 gas sensors: a status report , 1999 .

[31]  Roberto Passerone,et al.  Deployment and evaluation of a wireless sensor network for methane leak detection , 2013 .

[32]  N. Buchmann,et al.  Spatial variability of methane: attributing atmospheric concentrations to emissions. , 2014, Environmental pollution.

[33]  Yuhui Xu,et al.  A One ppm NDIR Methane Gas Sensor with Single Frequency Filter Denoising Algorithm , 2012, Sensors.

[34]  P. Sekhar,et al.  Development and testing of an electrochemical methane sensor , 2016 .

[35]  Kwang Soon Lee,et al.  Nonlinear observer with adaptive grid allocation for a fixed-bed adsorption process , 2012, Comput. Chem. Eng..