Gas sensors are critical for monitoring and detecting hazardous inert gases, and ensuring safety, air quality, or analysis throughout many different industries.
Whether you are looking for a gas sensor that is fast in speed, accurate, low powered, miniature, or easily integrated - the most critical factor in finding the perfect sensor is understanding the environment you intend to measure.
Did we mention that not all sensors are created equally either?
A sensor that is ideal for measuring indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) levels for indoor air quality will not work to measure concentrations used in fire suppression testing.
One OEM might want I2C protocols, while another individual prefers UART. Some applications require the use of a sampling principle, instead of diffusion.
Furthermore, understanding your application and its requirements is vital in selecting the right sensing technology.
What can a gas sensor detect?
Gas sensors are devices that can detect the presence and concentration of specific gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen and ammonia.
What are the applications of gas sensors?
CO2Meter has earned recognition across multiple industries for its extensive array of gas sensing solutions. One way that we have created trust within these spaces is by ensuring our team knows how to educate customers and provide the right information about specific applications and use cases.
This ensures that we can help the customer select the correct sensor for optimal use and experience for their application. By not "forcing" solutions on customers we create the trust and credibility that our long-term partners rely on.
Below, you will find a list of the top 10 most popular applications for gas sensors and examples on how our customers specifically use our technologies in order to improve their process, gain further analysis, or keep individuals safe.
Safety Industries
Gas detection and monitoring has always been closely connected with the protection of individuals working in hazardous environments where the presence of dangerous gases can be found. When it comes to gas sensor technologies, you can always guarantee that at the heart of any gas detector is a gas sensor designed specifically to monitor and repeatedly measure the gas concentration to indicate higher than normal levels and ensure safety for those working in and around hazardous gases.
For example, the S8 5% CO2 Sensor is an ideal sensing solution customers continue to utilize for CO2 monitoring because it acts as a safety switch for alarm applications that are critical in ensuring safety such as agriculture facilities, industrial plants, restaurants, and dry ice storage.
Indoor Air Quality/HVAC Industries
Another popular industry which uses gas sensor technologies for monitoring is indoor air quality. These environments include any indoor enclosed spaces such as homes, office buildings, classrooms, gymnasiums, and assisted living facilities. Not only do gas sensors provide a reliable early warning indicator of rising CO2 levels, but they also greatly assist in providing energy efficiency and reducing wear and tear on HVAC systems. The added benefit of proper CO2 monitoring in indoor spaces is improved cognitive abilities and reductions of airborne diseases.
In terms of top gas sensor solutions for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and the HVAC industry, many of our customers turn to the CozIR®-LP2 CO2 Sensor for its low power and long lifespan. An additional gas sensor application that uses the CozIR®-LP2 includes the Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) industry because the sensor can be powered from a small battery, solar panel, or other energy harvesting device. See also, the Aranet4 PRO Indoor Air Quality Monitor.
Medical and Life-Science Industries
One other industry that utilizes gas sensing technologies tremendously is the medical and life science fields. Because many gas sensors are incredibly accurate, reliable, and consistent they can also be easily integrated into areas such as incubation, neuroscience, respiration, capnography, and many others.
CO2Meter continues to work alongside many renowned universities, such as the University of California Berkeley who relies heavily on our SprintIR6S 20% CO2 Smart Sensor for its ability to record hyper-accurate data at 20x per second for their medical research.
Aside from this application, another useful carbon dioxide sensor is this Incubator CO2 Sensor used for monitoring CO2 levels in biological cell incubators to manage ideal cell and tissue growth.
Aerospace Industries
One industry that is quite unique is aerospace and the need to utilize gas sensor technologies to measure both oxygen and carbon dioxide gas concentrations. Aerospace environments utilize gas sensors specifically to monitor for in-flight conditions and air quality maintenance to ensure crew productivity, as well as overall passenger comfort.
One interesting study from the National University Capstone Project involved oxygen safety masks and our own CM-42951 0-25% UV Flux Oxygen Smart Sensor. By using the UV Flux Oxygen Smart Sensor, aerospace researchers were able to pinpoint precise oxygen concentrations passing through an F-35 Lightning II Pilot Mask.
Industrial Applications
Many customers often search for gas sensor technologies to be incorporated into aggressive and robust environments found commonly in industrial processes. When dealing with extreme environments and industrial gases, it is important to note that your gas sensor should be fit to deal with specific harsh conditions and durable to withstand the environment.
For example, specific gas sensors such as the ExplorIR®-W CO2 Sensor, can measure up to 100% CO2 concentrations even in high vibration and high humidity environments.
Additionally, if you are looking to monitor combustion processes such as optimizing boiler combustion efficiency and measuring oxygen concentrations the Oxy-Flex Oxygen Analyzer is the perfect solution.
Agriculture Industries
When it comes to finding the perfect sensing solution for agriculture applications, it is most common for those individuals looking to measure carbon dioxide in terms of maximizing plant yields. One sensor solution that is commonly utilized in agriculture industries is the K30 1% CO2 Sensor due to its accuracy and ability to withstand a variety of aggressive climate conditions.
Aside from agriculture applications, the K30 1% CO2 Sensor also has been the preferred sensor solution for those looking into plant disposal and composting.
Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP)
Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP) has become more prevalent in the last decade due to the demand for a longer shelf life of perishable products. Customers looking to integrate sensor technologies in MAP applications typically are looking to measure the CO2 or O2 content that is present within the packaging itself.
If there is an issue on the production line, chances are it needs to be spotted quickly. For those looking at monitoring CO2 concentrations, we recommend the SprintIR®-6S for its high speed and ability to take readings at up to 20x per second.
If you are interested in measuring Oxygen concentrations in pierceable packaging, then the TecPen MAP Oxygen Analyzer is an ideal solution. This analyzer is optimal for its ability to measure 3x per second and its extremely effective sensing mechanism.
Transportation Industries
The transportation industry has aggressively sought out sensor technologies within the last 5-10 years. These industries are typically looking at analyzing carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations in cargo like dry ice transportation, or analyzing shipping containers to monitor product spoilage.
By monitoring gas concentrations in enclosed environments customers can gain a better understanding of how to prolong perishable goods by altering the gas concentrations in the containers. Additionally, those shipping live animals want to understand the health effects on the animals too.
For customers in transportation applications, we recommend the CozIR®-A 10,000 ppm (1%) CO2 sensor due to its accuracy, low power consumption, and easy integration.
Fire Suppression Testing
An additional industry that relies heavily on the monitoring of carbon dioxide is fire suppression testing. This is because CO2 is an ideal fire suppressor, and it is released into areas to eliminate the oxygen that feeds the fire. Additional common environments may include switch room control panels, power generation systems, or gas turbine enclosures.
When looking into fire suppression testing applications, one sensor that is utilized commonly is the SprintIR 6S 100% Carbon Dioxide Sensor for High-Speed Measurement.
This sensor also is integrated at the heart of our most popular GasLab Pro® Carbon Dioxide Sampling 100% Data Logger, which is designed to measure CO2 concentrations in fire suppression testing and meets NFPA 12 & 17 requirements.
University Research Applications
Finally, many of our customers typically seek gas sensor technologies and solutions to further their research studies and advancements in the scientific field. The hypothesis of any overall study will determine the best gas sensor for your specific application requirements or needs.
Over the years, CO2Meter has been proud to have worked alongside many universities and research projects, worldwide.
To give one example, we were able to work with a student specifically who was looking to measure CO2 levels both indoors and in his community. By utilizing the K30 10,000 ppm CO2 sensor and Arduino Uno Micro-controller, the student was able to pinpoint what his communities system was currently lacking.
By ensuring a better knowledge of the specific gas sensor applications that are commonly searched for, we hope you can gain a better understanding of the ideal sensor solution that best fits your application and overall requirements.
For more information on implementing CO2Meter sensor technologies in your research, speak to an expert today: Sales@CO2Meter.com