P13.1 - Modular design of a gas mixing apparatus for complex trace gas mixtures
- Event
- 15. Dresdner Sensor-Symposium 2021
2021-12-06 - 2021-12-08
Dresden - Band
- Poster
- Chapter
- P13. (Selbst-) Validierung, Kalibrierung und Überwachung von Sensoren
- Author(s)
- D. Arendes, H. Lensch, J. Amann, A. Schütze - Saarland University, Saarbrücken/D, T. Baur - 3S GmbH, Saarbrücken/D
- Pages
- 326 - 331
- DOI
- 10.5162/15dss2021/P13.1
- ISBN
- 978-3-9819376-5-7
- Price
- free
Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in our environment can lead to reduced cognitive functions or serious health problems at elevated concentrations [1]. Their sources are manifold and range from the human metabolism to human activities such as cooking, heating, and cleaning, to emissions from furnishings, hygiene articles and building materials [2]. With the gold standard gas chromatography– mass spectrometry (GC-MS) being too expensive for consumer applications and not real-time capable, cost effective real-time measurement of these substances is possible by using metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors combined with dynamic operation [3]. However, to make full use of the increased selectivity, the MOS sensor systems must be calibrated with application-specific complex gas mixtures. For this calibration, a gas mixing apparatus (GMA) is needed to produce well-defined, adjustable, and reproducible gas mixtures. Since more than 300 different VOCs are found in indoor air [4], creating an exact replicate of indoor air or similar complex atmospheres is not feasible. This contribution describes the design and realization of a GMA being able to provide sufficiently complex and representative, yet still manageable VOCs mixtures also with realistic atmospheric background of humidity and inorganic gases.