Hydrogen detection by SnO₂ gas sensors

Christophe Pijolat (1, 2) , Guy Tournier (1, 2) , René Lalauze (1, 2) , Christine Testud (1, 2) , Tatry Philippe (3)

1 MICC-ENSMSE - Département Microsystèmes, Instrumentation et Capteurs Chimiques
2 SPIN-ENSMSE - Centre Sciences des Processus Industriels et Naturels
3 AEROSPATIALE- Espace et Défense

Tin dioxide microsensors have been used for hydrogen detection in nitrogen. The aim of this study is the development of a device which could detect quickly a leak of hydrogen on launchers equipped with hydrogen-oxygen motors. In order to evaluate the performances of industrial sensors made by Coreci Compagny, several tests have been realized on a laboratory bench. The experiments are related to the determination of the sensitivity and the response time and also to the influence of operating conditions like the room temperature and the presence of low levels of oxygen in the carrier gas. The obtained results show that these sensors are able to solve the different problems depending on this application, especially in regards of the particular conditions like hydrogen detection in pure nitrogen with a short response time.

Mots clés: Tin dioxide; microsensors; hydrogen detection; nitrogen; oxygen

Domaines: Génie des procédés

Christophe Pijolat, Guy Tournier, René Lalauze, Christine Testud, Tatry Philippe. Hydrogen detection by SnO₂ gas sensors. Solid-state transducers (European conference) (11th : 1997 Sep : Warsaw), Sep 1997, Varsovie, Poland. ⟨hal-00411474⟩