SENSOR FOR DETERMINING RELATIVE AMOUNT OF OXYGEN CONTAINING GAS IN A GAS MIXTURE

摘要

The electrochemical device and method measures the relative amount of a measurement gas consisting essentially of at least one oxygen containing gas in a gas mixture containing at least a second oxygen containing gas which is capable of being pumped out or disassociated at a voltage less than that which is capable of disassociating the measurement gas. The mixture may comprise, e.g., O2, CO2, and H2O. Two electrochemical pump cells and a support structure form a restricted volume in communication through an aperture to the gas mixture. The device comprises a first external electrical circuit mean across a first pump cell for applying a voltage to cause molecules of substantially restricted volume to be pumped out from the restricted volume or disassociated. The device also comprises a second external electrical circuit means across a second pump cell causes for applying a voltage to disassociate only of substantially all measurement gas molecules inside the volume. The device further comprises a third external electrical circuit means to measure the current flowing in the second pump cell, this current being proportional to the relative amount of measurement gas in the gas mixture. The invention also is directed to a planar electrochemical device and method for measuring the relative percentage of a measure gas in a gas mixture like that described above. 1748K