SBIR Phase I: Dual NOX/NH3 Sensor for Diesel Exhaust After-Treatment Systems

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将调查一种新的氮氧化物(NOx)传感器技术背后的传感机制，该技术也有可能用于氨传感。本项目将通过实验和测试对NOx和NH3双重传感材料进行优化，建立NOx和NH3双重传感的机理模型，并对机理模型进行验证。目前商用的NOx传感器无法满足这些复杂的后处理系统的准确性、响应时间和价格要求。氨或双NOx/NH3传感器在商业上是不可用的。这家小型企业最近确定了一种电催化NOx传感器技术，并证明了与商业技术相比，显著提高准确性、灵敏度和响应时间的潜力。通过对传感电极材料和传感器工作条件的改进，也证明了该传感器技术对氨气的敏感。在本项目中，将对NOx传感机制进行研究，以将这一前景广阔的技术开发成优化的、坚固耐用的设备。此外，还将研究氨的敏感性，为柴油排放后处理市场建立一个双重的NOx/NH3传感器。该项目的更广泛/商业影响将是增强监测NOx的能力，NOx是一种主要的全球污染物，也是酸雨的前兆，以及地面臭氧和烟雾的形成。新的环境法规正在推动NOx排放越来越低，其中最具挑战性的是2010年EPA第二级柴油尾气排放标准。为了满足这些要求，发动机制造商一直在开发新的柴油后处理技术，包括选择性催化剂还原(SCR)系统和稀有NOx捕集器，并需要NOx和氨传感器来对这些系统进行闭环控制和诊断。如果成功，新的NOx传感器有可能通过比竞争对手更准确、更快的检测来显著降低这些气体的排放水平。此外，额外的NH3灵敏度为氨泄漏的监测提供了一种解决方案，这是一个目前还没有商用传感器的问题。据预测，2012年NOx/NH3传感器的市场规模为12亿美元，具有巨大的商业潜力。此外，新的传感器技术预计将是一种成本更低的方法，使柴油行业能够拥有既满足技术要求又满足价格要求的传感器。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate the sensing mechanisms underlying a new nitrogen oxides (NOx) sensor technology that also has the potential for ammonia sensing. This project will optimize materials for dual NOx and NH3 sensing through experimentation and testing, establish mechanistic models for both NOx and NH3 sensing, and validate the mechanistic model. Currently commercially available NOx sensors fail to meet the accuracy, response time, and price requirements of these complex after-treatment systems. Ammonia or dual NOx /NH3 sensors are not available commercially. The small business has recently identified an electrocatalytic NOx sensor technology and has demonstrated the potential for significantly improved accuracy, sensitivity, and response time over the commercial technology. Through modification to the sensing electrode materials and sensor operating conditions, this sensor technology has also been demonstrated to be sensitive to ammonia. In this project, the NOx sensing mechanisms will be studied to develop this promising technology into an optimized, robust device. Additionally, the ammonia sensitivity will be investigated to establish a dual NOx /NH3 sensor for the diesel emissions after-treatment market.The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the enhanced ability to monitor NOx, which is a major global pollutant and a precursor to acid rain, and ground-level ozone and smog formation. New environmental regulations are driving NOx emissions to increasingly lower levels, with the most challenging of these being the 2010 EPA Tier 2 diesel tailpipe standards. To meet these, engine manufacturers have been developing new diesel after-treatment technologies including selective catalyst reduction (SCR) systems and lean NOx traps and require both NOx and ammonia sensors for closed loop control and diagnostics of these systems. If successful, the new NOx sensor has the potential to significantly reduce emissions levels of these gases through more accurate and faster detection than the competition. Moreover, the additional NH3 sensitivity offers a solution for monitoring of ammonia slip, an issue for which no commercial sensor currently exists. With a $1.2 billion market forecasted for 2012, the NOx /NH3 sensor has tremendous commercial potential. Additionally, the new sensor technology is expected to be a lower cost approach, enabling the diesel industry to have a sensor that meets both the technical and price requirements.