Thin Film Hydrogen Sensor Development, Testing and Integration into Low Cost Wireless Sensing Systems

There is a growing impetus to increase the use of hydrogen in both advanced power generation and transportation systems. A major technical challenge to solve is improving the safety and effectiveness of systems using hydrogen, and to reduce costly down time due to system shut-downs when hydrogen leaks are detected. There are many tragic examples in industry of undetected hazardous gas discharges leading to loss of life and property, and hydrogen is of particular importance. Because of their high installed cost, current electronic sensors are deployed in limited quantities and do not reliably detect leaks, because uncontained hydrogen gas rises and dissipates more rapidly than any other gas. When they do detect a leak, they cannot identify its magnitude or exact location, and safety precautions often dictate that a facility be shut down while leaks are located and repaired. Recently, several automakers announced their intention to introduce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2015, and the potential use of hydrogen as a consumer fuel has heightened concerns about safety which could become a barrier to consumer acceptance, product liability, insurability, permitting requirements, and the establishment of reasonable codes and standards. This problem can be addressed by deploying very low cost hydrogen sensors prolifically in close proximity to potential leak sites, such as valves, fittings and connectors. Integrating Element One’s thin film sensor technology with current RFID wireless technology could reduce the cost of each sensing point from $1,000+ to under $10. Successful completion of the Phase I effort will include the testing of different wireless sensor design configurations and testing their performance for several applications. Key performance parameters include range, durability, selectivity and sensitivity. The Phase I effort will include the development of algorithms for on-board calculation of detected hydrogen concentrations and will demonstrate the successful operation of an array of such wireless sensors in a laboratory test environment. Element One will partner with Esensor, Inc. for this SBIR project who will develop the hardware for a wireless sensor module.The value that Element One delivers is the technology to dramatically reduce cost while improving the ability to detect leaks wherever such gases are used as a feedstock, reagent or fuel. The prolific use of low cost wireless gas sensors will significantly reduce the potential for undetected releases of hazardous gases in industry and soon to be introduced hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.