Gas Measuring System with Harmful-Gas Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas measuring devices, particularly alcohol breathalyzers, can be irreversibly damaged by storage in environments containing harmful gases, leading to reduced sensitivity and impaired measuring performance, which is not detectable by the user.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that includes determining the concentration of harmful gases in a storage environment using a first gas sensor, accounting for this concentration when measuring target gases, and issuing warnings or correcting sensor sensitivity to compensate for the harmful gas influence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the gas measuring device is stored in a permeable storage environment, then the device remains accessible and easy to use, but the sensor can be damaged by harmful gases leading to reduced sensitivity and impaired measuring performance
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of harmful gases in the storage environment before they can damage the sensor. By continuously monitoring the storage environment and detecting harmful gas concentrations, the system takes preventive action by alerting users to remove the device from harmful environments before sensor damage occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the storage environment for harmful gases and providing real-time information to the user. The evaluation unit processes sensor signals to detect harmful gas presence and communicates this information back to the user, enabling them to take appropriate actions to protect the measuring sensor.
2Reliability
If hermetically sealing the sensor during storage, then the sensor is protected from harmful gases, but the device becomes more complex and expensive due to mechanical encapsulation
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the mechanical hermetic sealing approach with an electronic/detective solution. Instead of physically enclosing the sensor in a hermetic seal, the system uses additional sensors and evaluation circuits to detect harmful gases in the environment and provides electronic warnings or corrections, substituting mechanical protection with intelligent monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediary components (additional gas sensors and evaluation units) that mediate between the harmful storage environment and the measuring sensor. These intermediary sensors detect harmful gases without being damaged, and the evaluation unit processes this information to protect the main measuring sensor, acting as a buffer or mediator.
3Measurement precision
If additional gas sensors and evaluation units are added to detect harmful gases, then the sensor damage can be detected and compensated, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements multi-functionality by designing the gas measuring device to perform both its primary measurement function and additional harmful gas detection function. The evaluation unit and sensors serve multiple purposes: monitoring storage environment conditions, detecting harmful gases, and providing data for correction calculations, thereby reducing the need for separate dedicated components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes parameter changes by measuring different gas concentrations using the same sensor technology platform. By detecting changes in gas concentration parameters (harmful gases vs. target gases), the system achieves multiple measurement objectives without fundamentally changing the sensor architecture, leveraging the sensors' ability to respond to different gaseous substances.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables detection of impaired measuring behavior and provides warnings or corrections, ensuring accurate target gas measurement by compensating for the effects of harmful gases on gas sensors.
Implementation Method 1
a first gas sensor (3a, 3b) which is configured to provide a first measurement signal correlating with a concentration of a harmful gas cS present in a storage environment U
Implementation Method 2
a second gas sensor (4) which is configured to provide a second measurement signal correlating with a concentration of a target gas cZ present in a measurement environment U
Implementation Method 3
an evaluation unit (5a, 5b) which is configured to receive the first measurement signal and the second measurement signal and to determine a concentration of the target gas cZ in a measurement environment U in a second operating state taking into account a concentration of a harmful gas cS
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A method for operating a gas measuring system is provided, the method comprising the steps of: storing a gas measuring device in a storage environment in a first operating state, determining a concentration of a harmful gas in the storage environment by an evaluation unit, determining a concentration of the target gas in a measurement environment by the evaluation unit in a second operating state while taking into account the concentration of the harmful gas and outputting the concentration of the target gas, and/or comparing information correlating to the concentration of the harmful gas with a predetermined threshold value by the evaluation unit and outputting a warning in a third operating state if the correlating information exceeds the predetermined threshold value. Furthermore, a corresponding gas measuring system is provided.