Fluid component detection method

摘要

A selected component of a fluid mixture, for example a reduced sulfur compound vapor in air, is detected by selectively adsorbing the component onto a conductive thin layer of material having a chemical affinity for such component and observing the resultant change of electrical resistivity of the layer. The sensitivity of the detector changes with accumulation of the component on the sensor. The accumulation of the component on the sensor is removed by oxidizing and evolving the component from the sensor to restore the sensor to a linear operating region. The accumulated component is preferably oxidized by reacting the component with ozone. The dynamic range of the sensor is increased by counteracting the tendency for the component to accumulate by continuously feeding back ozone to or controlling the temperature of the sensor so that the sensor operates in a linear region near null.