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

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将通过更清洁的柴油发动机废气来改善环境。柴油发动机制造商目前无法精确控制其排气后处理系统，因为缺乏可广泛部署的传感器，这些传感器可以区分废气流中的氮氧化物（NOx）和其他物质。 该项目提出了一种新型的车载传感器，用于检测柴油机废气流中的NOx，其灵敏度和分子特异性是现有技术无法比拟的。它可以提高10%的燃油效率，同时符合新的严格的氮氧化物排放标准。通过该技术实现的全车队燃油经济性改善和NOx排放减少将减少碳排放和更健康的空气，减少NOx引起的烟雾，地面臭氧和酸雨。该项目的智力价值推动了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。该传感器预计在苛刻的高温颗粒负载柴油机排气环境中实现比当前广泛部署的电化学传感器低十倍的检测阈值，同时保持与现有柴油机后处理系统中使用的形状因子相似的形状因子。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的激光NO传感器的性能，该传感器能够经受高温、氧化、强烈振动和载满颗粒的车辆废气流的特性。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will improve the environment with cleaner diesel engine exhaust. Diesel engine manufacturers currently cannot precisely control their exhaust after-treatment systems due to the lack of widely deployable sensors that can differentiate between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other species in the exhaust stream. This project advances a novel on-board sensor for detecting NOx in diesel exhaust streams with sensitivities and molecular specificity unmatched by existing technologies. It can result in 10% greater fuel efficiency while matching new stringent NOx emissions standards. Fleet-wide fuel economy improvements and NOx emissions reductions enabled by this technology 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 advances 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, all while maintaining a form factor similar to those used in 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 NO 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.