Application of a Differential Fuel-Cell Analyzer for Measuring Atmospheric Oxygen Variations

Abstract A commercially available differential fuel-cell analyzer has been adapted to make field-based ppm-level measurements of atmospheric O2 variations. With the implementation of rapid calibrations and active pressure and flow control, the analysis system described here has a 1σ precision of ±2.5 per meg (≈0.5 ppm) for a 2-min measurement. Allowing for system stabilization after switching inlet lines, a 6-min measurement with a precision of ±1.4 per meg (≈0.3 ppm) every 20 min is obtained. The elimination of biases in any atmospheric O2 measurement depends critically on careful gas-handling procedures, and after screening for known sources of bias a comparability of ±10 per meg (≈2 ppm) with the present setup is estimated. In comparison to existing techniques, the relatively small size, low cost, fast response, motion insensitivity, and ease of implementation of the fuel-cell analyzer make it particularly useful for a wide range of unattended field applications. This system has been used to measure at...

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