Hydrogen detection by SnO₂ gas sensors

Christophe Pijolat (1, 2) , René Lalauze (1, 2) , Philippe Tatry (3)

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

For the Ariane vehicle system development, studies leaded to prevent fire and explosion risks mainly on account of hydrogen and oxygen on board of the launcher: the leckage detection (0₂, H₂) was one of the studies axis. This activity concerned the detection systems of H₂ and/or O₂ in terms of operational needs for a launcher: measure principle, instrumentation used in industry or in Research/Development, performances and reliability. Hydrogen detection is possible with various physical or chemical technics. The choice of the method depends on the performances which are inquire for a special application: on one hand, the measurement performances (sensitivity, selectivity, stability, reproducibility, calibration needs, ...) and on the other hand, the operational parameters such as cost, dimensions, weight, power supply,... An evaluation of these detection systems (catalyst detector, thermal conductivity, electrochemical oxidation, optical interferometry, thin film detector, ...) based on Nasa data [1] showed the interest of the semi-conductor sensors: nevertheless an accurate evaluation of these sensors performance is essential to consider their possible utilization for Ariane 5. Also, a research activity, beared by the CNES (the French Space Agency: Ariane Launcher Direction) and managed by the AEROSPATIALE (Industrial Architect of Ariane 5) was leaded by Saint-Etienne Mines School. The aim was to evaluate the SnO-z semi-conductor sensors performance, i.e. their selectivity, sensibility, response linearity, response delay, drift during time,... For all these parameters, the effect of the temperature and oxygen traces was studied.

Mots clés: hydrogen; oxygen; detection; Tin dioxide; SnO₂; gas sensors

Domaines: Génie des procédés

Christophe Pijolat, René Lalauze, Philippe Tatry. Hydrogen detection by SnO₂ gas sensors. Workshop of the European Workshop on Chemical Sensors for metallurgical processes, Dec 1994, Mol, Belgium. ⟨hal-00412122⟩