- Author
-
Marsh, N. D.
|
Cleary, T. G.
- Title
- Testing the Performance of Hydrogen Sensors.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
Session 5,
- Book or Conf
- International Conference on Automatic Fire Detection "AUBE '09", 14th Proceedings. University of Duisburg. [Internationale Konferenz uber Automatischen Brandentdeckung.] September 8-10, 2009,
Duisburg, Germany,
1-8 p.,
2009
- Keywords
-
fire detection
|
sensors
|
hydrogen
|
standards
|
UL 2075
|
NFPA 52
|
NFPA 55
|
NFPA 2
|
tests
|
response time
|
gas exposure
|
carbon monoxide
|
carbon dioxide
|
propene
|
propylene
|
water vapor
|
temperature
- Identifiers
- Fire Emulator/Detector Evaluator (FE/DE); Hydrogen Detector Environment Evaluator (HyDEE); summary of tested H2 sensors; responses of hydrogen sensors (all gas concentration and sensor response values)
- Abstract
- The acceptance of hydrogen as a widely-available energy source will depend to some extent on the perceived and actual safe dispensing and storage of hydrogen by the general public. Reliable detection of an accidental hydrogen gas release and mitigation of the hazard through designed safety systems is a key component of hydrogen powered systems in commercial, residential, and transportation uses. In anticipation of this emerging market, inexpensive hydrogen gas sensors based on a range of sensing technologies are becoming ncreasingly available. We have developed a new bench-scale test apparatus for hydrogen sensor performance, the Hydrogen Detector Environment Evaluator (HyDEE), based on our previous experience with hydrogen sensors in a small flow cell and in the Fire Emulator / Detector Evaluator. In particular, we have found that dynamic changes are relevant to the performance of current hydrogen sensor technologies, as both response rate of the sensor and its return baseline state is affected. The ability to induce dynamic changes is most easily accomplished with a flow system similar to a small wind tunnel. In this system, sensors can be exposed to hydrogen and other gases (particularly hydrocarbons, which many hydrogen sensors are also sensitive to) as well as humidity and changes in temperature. Improvements over the previous exploratory tests include substantially reduced volume allowing higher gas concentrations, and the ability to cool the system as well as heat it, in order to achieve a wider dynamic range in temperature and to more accurately simulate the environments to which sensors may be exposed in the real world.