No. 8920 Its. iimm ^^'^^"^f^'iT W I .0".»»V1% "^^ '" *^ "-..^^' ^^^ .. %^^^ ^-^ ^"-nK. '«j * ^^^ '^o. ^^^T*^ ,0*^ -^^ ^^ %,^ ^'^ « < 1 ' if '3 ■b ^7^* A r. -^^0^ ^\ v-^' / \ ^^'^ /\ ''^^' J\ •M* %..*'•'" -« - -^ G^ '.*** .A ■^-^ -4> .-<- ■V4' -xV .o«o, -/U . .L'.- <$>. r.'^ .o«<.. "^ * .1'., O 4,^ ^ '«^^ %.** / "^^ C,vP % '•^* ^r ^-^ """ -5^^ -^ -- / ^^^*^-\/ "^.'^^'Z '^^^**'^-\^^' X ^°^^B.%°- ./V^iX ^°^^^%°- y^^iX ^0^ '-''-"- 4P^ «*10^ 0> ^ o«o^ »3 ..* ■T. *^f. ^onO 5'^ <»'•»* .^ '^^^^' -^s.^^^ ^^^S^' -^^6^ ^ 4C). IC 8920 Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1983 Characteristics of the OTOX Model CTL Oxygen Sensor By J. E. Chilton, G. H. Schnakenberg, Jr., and L. Spinetti UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Information Circular 8920 Characteristics of the OTOX Model CTL Oxygen Sensor By J. E. Chilton, G. H. Schnakenberg, Jr., and L. Spinetti UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR James G. Watt, Secretary BUREAU OF MINES Robert C. Norton, Director This publication has been cataloged as follows: Chilton, J. E. Characteristics of the OTOX model CTL oxygen sensor. (Bureau of Mines information circular ; 8920) Includes bibliographical references, Supt. of Docs, no.: I 28.27:8920. 1. Mine gases— Measurement— Equipment and supplies. 2. Oxygen- Analysis— Equipment and supplies. 3. Gas-detectors— Testing. 1. Schnakenberg, George H. II. Spinetti, L. III. United States. Dept. of the Interior. IV. Title. V. Series: Information circular (United States. Bureau of Mines) ; 8920. XN^e^TtH [TN305] 622s [622'. 8] 82-600364 CONTENTS Page Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Theory 3 Experimental systems 4 Discussion 5 Stability 5 Bias over range 7 Temperature effect 9 Pressure effect 10 Pressure surge tests 13 Response times 14 Summary 15 ILLUSTRATIONS 1 . OTOX oxygen sensor 3 2. OTOX sensor Initial stability 5 3. OTOX sensor long-term stability 7 4. Zero-corrected oxygen response for the OTOX sensor 8 5. Normalized oxygen response for the OTOX sensor 9 6 . OTOX sensor temperature response 10 7. OTOX sensor temperature response for the square root of the absolute temperature 11 8 . OTOX sensor pressure effect 12 9. OTOX sensor pressure surge effect: Initial pressure +8 In Hg above at- mospheric pressure 13 10. OTOX sensor pressure surge effect: Initial pressure -8 In Hg below atmos- pheric pressure 14 11. Sample time responses for the OTOX sensor 15 TABLES 1. Stability of OTOX sensors; sensor response for 20.9 pet O2 6 2. Linear regression analysis for stability data on OTOX sensors 6 3 . OTOX sensor oxygea response 8 4. OTOX sensor normalized oxygen response data 9 5. Linear regression analysis for OTOX response to oxygen concentration. 9 6. OTOX sensor temperature response In air 10 7. Effect of static pressure on sensor response, OTOX CTL 11 8. Linear regression analysis for OTOX response to change In static pressures 13 9. Pressure surge response time data , 14 10. Response times for step change In oxygen concentration to 90 pet of final value 14 UNIT OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT cm centimeter mL milliliter cm cubic centimeter mm millimeter ° C degree Celsius mV millivolt g gram Pa pascal in inch pet percent K kelvin sec second min minute CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OTOX MODEL CTL OXYGEN SENSOR By J. E. Chilton, ' G. H. Schnakenberg, Jr., ^ and L. Spinetti -^ ABSTRACT The Bureau of Mines has examined the operation of an oxygen sensor manufactured by the City University, London, England. The sensor pro- duces a current proportional to the oxygen concentration by reacting oxygen at a nonconsumable cathode. The sensor design is unique in that the primary mode of oxygen transport to the cathode is by diffusion through a capillary. The sensor using this design has a stability of 0- to 0.02-pct reading change per day over a 4.7-month test, small tem- perature coefficient of 0.29-pct reading change per ° C, and small pressure coefficient of 0.34-pct reading change per 1,000-ft altitude change. If this sensor were incorporated into an oxygen detector or monitor, this would be a distinct improvement in electrochemical-type oxygen analyzers and would be useful to the mining industry, ^Research chemist, Pittsburgh Research Center, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA. ^Supervisory research physicist, Pittsburgh Research Center, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA. •^Chemist, Pittsburgh Research Center, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA. (now retired) . INTRODUCTION An oxygen detector is used in mining operations for verifying that there is an adequate supply of oxygen for life sup- port of miners. The Code of Federal Reg- ulations requires a supply of air con- taining not less than 19.5 vol-pct O2 for underground coal mine ventilation (30 CFR 75.301). To verify that ventilation air meets this specification, oxygen in air of underground coal mines should be mea- sured by the use of an oxygen detector with certain properties: 1. Certified by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) (i.e., per- missible) for use in combustible atmos- pheres such as methane in air. 2. Have a range covering the concen- trations encountered in practice (0 to 25 pet O2). 3. Meet human related factors — size and weight considerations, readability, ruggedness . 4. Meet certain instrument parameter values — response time, accuracy, preci- sion, and stability. 5. Meet environmental instrument parameters — temperature, pressure, humid- ity, and electrical and chemical interference. The measurement of some of the oxygen sensor properties noted in items 4 and 5 are described in this Bureau of Mines report. Many commercial oxygen detectors have sensors that operate as a galvanic cell. The cell anode is a reactive metal such as zinc or lead. The cell cathode is a noncomsumable metal or graphite structure catalyzed with silver to promote oxygen reduction. The cell electrolyte is usu- ally a potassium hydroxide solution in water. Oxygen travels to the cell cath- ode through a porous membrane. The po- rous membrane limits the mass transport of oxygen from the air sample to the cell cathode and results in a sensor response that is proportional to the oxygen par- tial pressure. For a given oxygen volume concentration, the oxygen response of these cells, because of the membrane- diffusion-limited system, depends direct- ly on oxygen partial pressure (and hence, an ambient pressure) and also is strongly dependent on ambient temperature. Detec- tors using such cells must use an elec- tronic circuit that senses cell tempera- ture and corrects for the temperature ef- fect of the sensor output. Usually no pressure corrections are made electron- ically. The detector output is usually set to read 21 pet in air known to be fresh. From then on altitude or baro- metric pressure changes will affect the reading even if the actual oxygen concen- tration remains at 21 pet. Tests of per- formance of some of these oxygen detec- tors were reported.^ A galvanic oxygen sensor has been de- veloped in England that uses a different principle for limiting the diffusion of oxygen to the cathode — that of diffusion through a capillary. This sensor, the OTOX model CTL,^ developed at the City University, Chemistry Department, St. John St., London, was reported to have no dependence on atmospheric pressure and small dependence on temperature. The evaluation of this oxygen sensor was un- dertaken in the quest for improved oxygen detectors for mining use, and five OTOX model CTL oxygen sensors were obtained from the National Coal Board for study. The sensor (fig. 1) is assembled in a cylindrical case, 43 mm high by 23 mm in diameter (C flashlight cell size). Al- though the mass transport of oxygen must pass through an air gap and two mem- branes, it is primarily limited by '*Ray, R. M. , and F. B. Armstrong. An Evaluation of Several Direct Reading Electrochemical Oxygen Meters. Bartles- ville Energy Research Center (BERC) RI 76/7, 1976, 50 pp. ^Reference to specific products does not imply endorsement by the Bureau of Mines. diffusion through a fine capillary. The in the air at the sensor and is approxi- current produced by the cell is proper- mately 1 ma at 20.9 pet O2 . tional to the oxygen volume concentration THEORY The OTOX sensor operates by the gas- diffusion-limited mass transport of oxy- gen, and the sensor current is determined by the overall movement of oxygen as follows: 1 . Oxygen molecules move to the sensor face. 2. Oxygen molecules diffuse through the capillary into the sensor interior. 3. Oxygen within the sensor reacts at the cathode surface. The mass transport of oxygen (S, g- mole/sec) is limited by diffusion through TOP VIEW To voltmeter 47-ohm resistor To voltmeter the cell capillary. This flow will fol- low Pick's law for steady state diffusion in a single dimension and can be written as follows: s=^o. (1) where D is the diffusion coefficient, cm^/sec, A is the surface area. cm' and through which diffusion occurs, L is the diffusion zone thickness, cm, C is the ambient oxygen concentra- tion, g-mole/cm^. This equation assumes a rapid reaction of oxygen at the cell cathode. The cur- rent in amperes, i, from the galvanic cell with limiting cathode reaction is related to the oxygen transport rate, S, as follows: i = n F S, (2) where n is the number of g equivalents per g-mole of reaction (for oxygen n = 4) , and F is the Faraday constant, 96,480 amp-sec/g equivalent. The molar concentration (C, g-mole/cm-^) is related to C , the oxygen concentra- tion in percent, as follows: C = C 10"2 p/RT, where P is the pressure, atm, R is the gas constant, 82.06 atm cm^ , (3) FIGURE 1. - OTOX oxygen sensor. and mole K T is the absolute temperature, K. By combining the three cell current, i, is equal ing expression: equations, the to the follow- ^ 100 L R T (4) temperature and pressure becomes equal to the following expression: i = K' t1/2 c«, where K' is a constant. (6) With the cell rameters fixed, written: capillary physical pa- the equation may be = Kf C. where K is a constant. (5) The gas diffusion coefficient (D, cm^/ sec) is a function of the average gas molecule velocity and the mean free path of the gas molecule. In free space it is a function of T^^^ P~ ' , and thus the cell current i expressed as a function of The equations for gas diffusion are ap- plicable to this system since the OTOX cell has a capillary with a size much greater than the oxygen mean free path. When the oxygen reaching the cathode is limited by gas diffusion rather than mem- brane diffusion, the cell current is a function only of the square root of the absolute temperature, and not of pres- sure. Thus, the OTOX sensor current should be directly proportional to the oxygen percent concentration and not to oxygen partial pressure as in many other oxygen sensors that have been investigated. EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEMS A load resistor was connected to the sensor leads, and the OTOX sensor current was measured by reading the voltage across the load resistor using a Keithley model 172 DMM digital multimeter. A 147- ohm resistor was chosen for the load since this value of resistance yielded maximum sensor power output and matched the internal sensor resistance. Room air (20.9 pet O2) was used at local tempera- tures and pressures for stability test- , ing. An Aminco environmental chamber was used for controlled-temperature experi- ments. A Boekel chamber was used for controlled-pressure measurement, with differential pressure readings taken from a mercury manometer. Oxygen and nitrogen from cylinders were mixed to form concen- trations of oxygen above 20.9 pet. Cyl- inder nitrogen was used to dilute air to form oxygen concentrations below 20.9 pet. A Taylor Servomex model A0272 oxy- gen analyzer and an Edmont-Wilson amper- ometric membrane sensor both were used to measure the oxygen concentrations of the prepared air mixtures. A Hewlett-Packard model 7100 strip chart recorder was used to record sensor response for subsequent measurement of response times, as follows: A sensor, initially in air, was plunged into nitro- gen gas flowing at 50 mL/min by placing over the sensor a polyethylene cylinder connected by tubing to a nitrogen cylin- der. The nitrogen flowed past the sensor and exited through 1/8-in-diameter holes in the cylinder to prevent pressure increase at the sensor. The response time for the sensor for a step decrease in oxygen was measured from the strip chart recording as the time from the ini- tial change in response to 90 pet of the final response. By flowing air from a cylinder through a similar fitting, the response time for a step increase in oxy- gen was determined. In this procedure the cell, initially in nitrogen, was rapidly immersed in a flowing air atmos- phere (20.9 pet O2), and the cell current was recorded. DISCUSSION STABILITY Five OTOX sensors were tested in room air (20.9 pet O2) for a 13-day period during which the millivolt output of the sensors was monitored under a continuous 147-ohm load. The room temperatures and pressures varied during the test. The data obtained are summarized below, in millivolts : Sensor Initial Average Std. dev. 1 146.0 145.5 0.5 2 162.0 163.3 1.0 3 146.0 144.9 .4 4 151.0 154.0 1.6 5 163.0 164.6 1.4 The data were taken over 13 days with fluctuations of temperature from 18° to 24° C. The maximum coefficient of varia- tion (the standard deviation divided by the average value) is 1.04 pet. The mea- sured values are plotted in figure 2. The data indicated no general increase or decrease of the values of the sensor re- sponse to 20.9 pet O2 for this brief test. The OTOX sensor stability was also mea- sured over a 146-day (4.7-month) period. These data were analyzed to obtain infor- mation on the drift or long-term change in sensor output. The drift is expressed as a linear function of time using a least squares regression analysis. The precision of the data can be estimated from the standard deviation of the ob- served data about the calculated drift line. The OTOX sensor outputs for 20.9 pet O2 and room temperature (19° through 23° C) are summarized in table 1 , and the data are plotted in figure 3. Table 2 summarizes the equation parameters for a least squares regression analysis. It is apparent from both the graph and the calculated slopes of the stability data that sensor 1 is significantly dif- ferent over long time observations from the other sensors. The measured output of sensor 1 in room air shows almost a ten-fold greater negative drift than that of the other sensors. The average re- sponse of the other sensors gave little variation over the 4.7-month period. The average of the slopes of the curves for > E UJ in •z. o Q. if) LU < 180 160 z 140- >- o 120 1 A 1 A 1 ¥5. v<__ 1 1 1 A -X— A — X _ ^ X "■■f* ri ■^^ Q n . • • — KEY — • 1 and 3 X 2 4 1 1 A 5 1 1 1 FIGURE 2. 6 8 TIME, days OTOX sensor initial stability. 10 14 TABLE 1. - Stability of OTOX sensors; sensor response for 20.9 pet O2 , raV Day No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 146.34 161.70 146.18 151.46 162.75 6 144.92 162.89 144.57 153.82 164.74 7 145.57 164.01 144.93 154.50 165.98 12 144.90 165.13 145.50 156.23 166.53 13 144.82 162.14 143.28 154.03 163.77 39 139.56 164.21 144.49 153.62 165.04 49 139.30 163.92 144.70 153.24 166.04 84 132.56 163.94 144.61 153.27 165.52 88 132.46 166.30 146.46 155.73 167.28 98 135.76 164.33 146.90 155.76 165.48 101 136.48 164.16 147.96 152.33 162.63 103 136.83 163.45 144.69 152.31 164.75 104 137.63 16a.92 145.33 156.32 164.63 Ill 134.39 163.97 147.34 157.24 164.88 115 133.71 165.37 147.47 156.26 164.79 116 134.38 164.59 146.58 152.76 165.45 118 136.66 164.32 148.14 152.73 166.49 119 134.49 165.63 148.08 153.69 165.38 124 135.35 164.17 146.36 153.60 165.52 125 134.51 164.04 146.34 152.86 165.00 126 133.60 163.43 145.69 152.36 164.29 130 133.99 163.88 145.99 151.50 164.82 131 131.65 162.57 145.18 151.02 164.12 136 129.42 163.61 146.24 151.77 164.63 138 129.35 163.18 146.16 150.98 164.44 142 129.44 163.89 146.30 152.28 164.74 144 126.61 163.94 146.73 152.36 165.19 146 126.62 164.38 147.02 152.21 165.22 TABLE 2. - Linear regression analysis for stability data on OTOX sensors^ Least squares analysis Squared regression coefficient, raV Standard deviation, mV Sensor Slope, mVAday Intercept, raV Slope Regression 1 -0.10700 .00525 .01430 -.01080 .00009 145.8 163.5 144.7 154.5 165.0 0.85200 .06740 .31900 .08800 .00002 0.0088 .0038 .0041 .0068 .0041 2. 18 2 .96 3 4 5 1.02 1.70 1.03 Equation response (mV) = slope x elapsed time + intercept, sensors 2 through 5 is nearly zero. Lim- its of the values for true slope 3 may be estimated at a given risk a (say, a = 5 pet) from the experimental data for cal- culated slope b from sample data as follows: 'yx < 3 < b + t 'yx 170 160 > E {^'150 z o a. E CO z o Q- CO UJ a: 01 o if) z UJ CO 350 300- 250- 200- 15 20 25 30 ACTUAL OXYGEN, pet 35 40 45 FIGURE 4. - Zero-corrected oxygen response for the OTOX sensor. Table 4 summarizes this normalized sensor response data, giving the actual percent oxygen as determined by the reference instruments and the indicated percent oxygen values for each sensor. Figure 5 is a graph of the normalized responses of the sensors for varying oxygen concentra- tions to 30 pet. Figure 5 also contains the line calculated from the least squares analysis of the data. Table 5 summarizes the values of the slope, in- tercept, and standard deviation for the derived curves. The slopes of the calcu- lated curves are close to 1.0, indicating equivalency of the actual and indicated percent oxygen values. The excellent fit of the experimental data to a straight line is indicated by the near-unity value for the square of the regression coefficient. TABLE 4. - OTOX sensor normalized oxygen response data, pet 10 15 20 ACTUAL OXYGEN, pet FIGURE 5. - Normalized oxygen response for the OTOX sensor. Oxy- gen, No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 pet 0.0. . 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.0. . 4.30 4.00 3.93 4.24 3.84 10.0.. 8.03 7.92 7.85 8.08 7.90 15.0.. 13.51 13.40 13.38 13.66 13.42 17.0.. 15.44 15.31 15.30 15.50 15.34 18.0.. 17.28 17.05 16.96 17.35 16.98 20.0.. 18.74 18.57 18.57 18.85 18.59 20.9.. 20.82 21.01 20.99 21.00 20.97 20.9.. 20.92 20.82 20.85 20.80 20.83 22.0.. 20.89 20.78 21.01 20.95 21.03 25.0.. 23.88 23.77 23.89 23.98 23.88 30.0.. 29.55 29.33 29.73 29.22 29.55 TEMPERATURE EFFECT The OTOX sensors were placed in the en- vironmental chamber, and the temperature was varied in steps from 5° to 40° C. The sensor responses were measured while in air (20.9 pet O2) at the different temperatures and were corrected to per- cent oxygen readings by dividing by the measured responses value (aiillivolts) at 22° C and multiplying by 20.9 pet. Ta- ble 6 lists the data obtained, and fig- ure 6 shows the data. Sensor 1 data are not included in the figure since the curve was not the same as for the other TABLE 5. - Linear regression analysis for OTOX response to oxygen concentration Sensor Least squares analysis Slope' Intercept, pet Squared regression coefficient , pet Standard deviation, pet Slope Regression 0.9998 .9998 1.0109 .9969 1.0086 -0.864 -.979 -1.126 -.791 -1.097 0.994 .993 .993 .995 .993 0.0245 .0264 .0274 .0231 .0263 Normalized response ^ pct oxygen reading ^ pet gaseous oxygen = slope X true oxygen pet + intercept, 0.687 .739 .767 .648 .735 10 TABLE 6. - OTOX sensor temperature response in air, pet Temperature, ° C No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 5 18.66 19.53 19.88 18.49 19.56 10 20.30 20.26 20.50 19.65 20.22 15 20.83 20.83 20.57 20.74 20.81 20.93 20.25 20.61 20.59 20 20.74 22 20.90 20.30 20.90 21.02 20.90 21.13 20.90 21.08 20.90 25 20.98 30 19.45 21.21 21.30 21.40 21.17 35 19.12 21.32 21.36 21.62 21.26 40 19.04 21.25 21.23 21.65 21.20 four sensors. The maximum changes for the readings are 2 pet of oxygen response increase for a 35° C temperature increase. If the principal mechanism limiting the transport of oxygen is by diffusion through a fine capillary, then, as indi- cated in equation 6, a plot of the square root of the absolute temperature versus sensor response should yield a straight line. Figure 7 shows such a plot. This relationship gives a curve that is appar- ently no more linear than that of fig- ure 6. The curvature in this plot could be due to the diffusion of oxygen being limited, by transport through a membrane as well as by the capillary. Upon dis- assembly of a sensor, we found two Teflon membranes within the cell separating the capillary from the cathode, which are used with the capillary and dead air space to form the total diffusion trans- port system for the oxygen sensor. PRESSURE EFFECT The sensors' response to change of air pressure was measured with ambient air (20.9 pet O2) at an average pressure of 20 TEMPERATURE, **C FIGURE 6. - OTOX sensor temperature response. 11 22.0 I8.5L-X- 16.6 17.8 \/T, CK)^ FIGURE 7. - OTOX sensor temperature response for the square root of the absolute temperature. 97.923 X 10^ Pa (28.92 in Hg). Table 7 lists the measured response changes, and figure 8 plots the responses over a range of air pressures. Measurements were also taken of the pressure response of the Ed- mont Wilson membrane-amperometric oxygen analyzer (membrane-limited transport) and of the Taylor Servomex paramagnetic oxy- gen analyzer, model A0272, used as refer- ence analyzers. Each of the reference analyzers has a pressure response of 3.46 pet of reading per 33.864 x lO^ pa ( 1 in Hg) change in pressure. The pres- sure unit of 1 in Hg was chosen since this is equivalent to 1,000 ft of alti- tude change. The -3.46-pct change in response would also be found on trans- porting either of the reference oxygen analyzers from sea level to a 1,000-ft elevation. For sensors with a membrane-limited transport system, the sensor response to pressure changes was given previously in equation 5. For gas diffusion through a membrane, the gas diffusion coefficient D is proportional to T^'^ and not dependent on pressure P; thus, by substitution for D in equation 5 we obtain i = K' T" 1/2 PC (7) or i = K' PC for constant temperature, (8) where, again, i is the sensor response current , amp , and P is the pressure, atm, C is the oxygen concen- tration, pet. The change in response Ai for a change in pressure AP is Ai = KAP C , (9) TABLE 7. - Effect of static pressure on sensor response, OTOX CTL, pet Air pressure change, in Hg No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 ED^ Ti^ -8 -6 -4 -2 19.90 20.12 20.33 20.52 20.53 20.90 21.02 21.16 21.31 20.54 20.69 20.84 20.93 21.08 21.11 21.18 21.29 21.38 20.26 20.46 20.70 20.92 21.09 21.23 21.31 21.49 21.58 20.09 20.50 20.56 20.79 20.99 21.15 21.28 21.42 21.57 20.41 20.58 20.73 20.77 20.91 21.05 21.12 21.17 21.22 15.1 16.7 18.2 19.4 20.9 22.5 24.0 25+ 0) 15.2 16.7 18.1 19.5 20.9 2 22.3 4 23.8 6 25.5 8 0) ^Edmont Wilson ^Taylor Servon ^Off scale. L oxygen lex A027. sensor. I oxygen analyze! r. 12 Edmont Wilson galvanometric-membrane Taylor paramagnetic OTOX oxygen sensor-capillary 1 -8 -6 4-2024 MERCURY PRESSURE CHANGE, in FIGURE 8. - OTOX sensor pressure effect. 8 and the relative percent change in re- sponse is obtained by dividing equation 9 by equation 8 and multiplying by 100 as follows : ^1 inn ^ ^P -: — • 100 pet = Tjr— 1 ^ P 100 pet. (10) Thus, the calculated relative percent change in percent sensor response is equal to the percent pressure change. A pressure change of 33.864 x 10^ Pa (1 in Hg decrease) is a 3.46-pct change at our test elevation of 1,000 ft above sea level. The paramagnetic analyzer does not rely on oxygen diffusion, and the paramagnetic sensor response is simply proportional to the oxygen concentration (gram-mole per unit volume) and thus proportional to oxygen pressure. The calculated sensor response change per inch of mercury pressure for the paramagnetic sensor is 3.46 pet, the same as calculated in equa- tion 10. The measured sensor response change per unit pressure of both refer- ence instruments was approximately equal to this calculated value. On the other hand, the OTOX sensors have a pressure response change of only 0.34 pet per 33.864 X io2 Pa (1 in Hg). This is 1/10 of the change for the reference units, and the deviation of this number from zero again may be due to the presence of the two mechanisms for diffusion control used in the OTOX sensor, that of a capil- lary air space and the membranes within the sensor. Table 8 summarizes the results of the statistical tests for the effect of pres- sure on the sensor response. The values for the square of the regression coeffi- cient approach unity and show the excel- lent fit for a linear dependence of 13 TABLE 8. - Linear regression analysis for OTOX response to change in static pressures' Least squares analysis Squared regression coefficient, pet Standard deviation Sensor Slope, Intercept, of regression, pet pct/in Hg pet 1 0.088 20.64 0.99 0.06 2 .05 21.00 .98 .05 3 .08 21.00 .98 .07 4 .09 20.93 .98 .08 5 .05 20.89 .97 .11 Taylor Servomex .73 21.01 1.00 .04 Edmont Wilson. . .71 20.90 1.00 .04 Equation Indicated O2 , pct = slope x Ap inch Hg + intercept. response on pressure. The OTOX sensors give oxygen response readings propor- tional to the oxygen concentration rather than to the oxygen partial pressure as do the reference detectors. This response to gas concentrations is unique since all other electrochemical sensors, and almost all other sensors using infrared absorp- tion or refractive index measurements, respond to partial pressure of the sensed gas. The ANDROS handheld CO2 or CH4 de- tector using a pressure modulated infra- red absorption technique is the only other sensor we have found with the abil- ity to read the concentration of gas directly.^ PRESSURE SURGE TESTS The OTOX sensor contains free space or dead volume within the cell interior between the end of the capillary and the membranes . The oxygen in this volume must be reacted before equilibrium oxy- gen concentrations and stable sensor re- sponse values can be obtained. Pressure surges up to 24.90 x 10^ Pa (10-in water pressure) may occur when a miner moves through airlocks (sealed doors) separat- ing aircourses in underground mines. Figure 9 shows a plot of data obtained "Chilton, J. E., C. R. Carpenter, and G. H. Schnakenberg. Improvements in Gas Detector Instrumentation. Proc. 5th WVU Conf. on Coal Mine Electrotechnology , Dept. of Elec. Eng. , W. Va. Univ., Mor- gantown, W. Va., July 30-Aug. 1, 1980, pp. 19-1 to 19-17. from the response measurements for a sen- sor encountering a pressure change from +270.91 X lo2 Pa (8 in Hg) to atmospheric pressure. The initial response change is due to reduction of oxygen quantity in the capillary by the outward flow of oxygen-def f icient from the space in the cell. Equilibrium diffusion and a stable response are reestablished at atmospheric pressure in 30 sec (time to reach 90 pct of final value). Figure 10 shows the reponse change for an air pressure change from -270.91 x 10^ 20 60 80 40 TIME, sec FIGURE 9. - OTOX sensor pressure surge ef- fect: Initial pressure +8 in Hy above atmospheric pressure. 14 240 120 1/21.1 pet O2 20 40 TIME, sec 60 80 FIGURE 10. ■■ OTOX sensor pressure surge effect: Initial pressure -8 in Hg below atmos- pheric pressure. Pa (-8 in Hg) pressure to atmospheric pressure. The increase in cell response is due to the oxygen in air flowing into the sensor internal free space, and the equilibrium sensor response is reestab- lished in 60 sec (time to obtain 90 pet of final value). These experimental pressure surges are greater than would be found in operating mines, and response to upset from smaller pressure surges would more quickly return to the original val- ue. Table 9 summarizes the times to re- cover obtained by the pressure surge test. The average time to recover to 90 pet of original response value is 22 sec for a negative pressure surge; full re- covery occurs in an average of 55 sec. The average time to recover to 90 pet of the original response value is 61 sec for positive pressure surges; full recovery is in an average of 98 sec. The measured times depend both on quantity of oxygen to be consumed, which is a measure of sensor free space volume relative to the surge volume through the capillary, and on the sensor current, which controls the rate of oxygen consumption. This current is set by the value of the load resistor placed across the sensor. TABLE 9. - Pressure surge response time data — time in seconds for recovery of response to 90 pet of initial value Sensor Pressure change Negative (+8 in Hg to in Hg) Positive (-8 in Hg to in Hg) 1 20 16 29 27 21 45 2 62 3 52 4 80 5 65 RESPONSE TIMES Response times were measured for a step decrease in oxygen by first equilibrating the sensor in air and then flooding it with flowing nitrogen at constant ambient pressure. Response times were measured also for a step increase in oxygen con- centration by equilibrating the sensor in nitrogen and then flooding it with flow- ing air at ambient pressure. Figure 11 shows the sensor response change for both conditions: The step increase and step decrease in oxygen. Table 10 reports the TABLE 10. - Response times for step change in oxygen concentration to 90 pet of final value, sec Sensor Test sequence Step decrease in oxygen Step increase in oxygen 1 70 50 26 28 45 76 2 28 3 32 4 32 5 25 'For a step decrease, the sensor is originally in air (20.9 pet O2). then im- mersed in nitrogen (0 pet O2); for a step -ir»or-£a*'"** 0^ *y°' > =*, ^^-^K ^.,.,^-^^ -4«r^^..^^\'^^'r\./' ^ i . -^^' V '-^!^©^.* >" ■"^. ->^^"^ 0^ . -^^^^ 'Um^"° "-^'^'^'^ M *^ i"^ .0 ' <, — ,™, — „, ^^ « \>»- o V .• ^-i-' r *7:^T^' A, '^ x^"^ *' .. *^^ jP-7^^. ^ *;^T^' A 1 A.- % *o«o' o,^ O -»,,.^ ,0-' ^oV^ A^ ^^ 1 ^'b'^. vV-*-. 0" o, ,^ 't^K^ «^sC^®i" '♦bV^ v^y .. \^\/^ v^*/ V^-"/* -^:9/ \;W'/ ^ - ' O M O ^ ^0^ : \/ ^'W^o^ V^V V^%°^ V^*;/ V^%°'i HECKMAN BINDERY INC. ^. JAN 84 •-• ' .G^ % A <^ 'o,*^ G*^ V *^T^\a <^ ^ N. 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