SBIR Phase I: Laser-based in-exhaust NOx sensor for automotive applications

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发一种新型车载传感器，用于检测柴油尾气流中的氮氧化物（NOx），其灵敏度和特异性是现有技术无法达到的。柴油发动机制造商目前无法精确控制其排气系统，因为缺乏能够区分排气流中的氮氧化物和其他物质的合适的具有成本效益的传感器。该传感器可将燃油效率提高10%。大规模使用这种传感器将减少碳排放，使空气更健康，减少氮氧化物引起的烟雾、地面臭氧和酸雨。本项目的智力优势是基于激光吸收光谱的新应用，该应用探测NOx物种的独特光谱吸收指纹，以避免跨物种干扰。与目前广泛使用的电化学传感器相比，该传感器的检测阈值将降低10倍，可用于恶劣的高温微粒排放环境，其外形与现有的柴油后处理系统相似。第一阶段的研究将利用新的制造技术来制造和展示高灵敏度激光传感器的性能，该传感器能够承受高温、氧化、强烈振动和汽车尾气中含有颗粒的流动特征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to develop a novel on-board sensor for detecting oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in diesel exhaust streams with a sensitivity and specificity unmet by existing technologies. Diesel engine manufacturers currently cannot accurately precisely control their exhaust systems due to the lack of appropriate cost-effective sensors capable of differentiating between NOx and other species in the exhaust stream. The proposed sensor can result in 10% fuel efficiency improvements. Use of this sensor at scale will lead to reduced carbon emissions and healthier air with lower amounts of NOx-induced smog, ground-level ozone, and acid rain.The intellectual merit of this project is based on a novel application of laser-absorption spectroscopy, which probes the unique spectral absorption fingerprint of NOx species to avoid cross-species interference. This sensor is projected to achieve tenfold lower detection thresholds than current widely deployed electrochemical sensors in the harsh high-temperature particulate-laden diesel exhaust environments in a form factor similar to those of existing diesel aftertreatment systems. This Phase I research will leverage novel manufacturing techniques to fabricate and demonstrate the performance of a high-sensitivity laser-based sensor capable of surviving high-temperature, oxidizing, intensely vibrating, and particulate-laden flows characteristic of vehicle exhaust gases.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.