Why Zirconia Technology a better option for Trace Oxygen Analysis

For trace oxygen analysis Micro Fuel Cell based Trace Oxygen Analyzers are generally used in industrial applications. Though the technology has many limitations, there weren’t many alternate choices to opt for in the past.

Micro fuel sensors are very delicate and fail when exposed to air even for short duration of time. It has shelf life of three months and operating life upto twelve months. Frequent cell failure and replacement are major headache. Also in order to avoid exposure to air, continuous nitrogen purging is another requirement. The longer response time and its sensitivity to temperature, pressure and cross interference of background gases are other operational challenges and compromised readings.

Taking into consideration the limitations of Fuel Cell Technology we at Bhoomi have come up with Trace Oxygen Analyzers based on Zirconia Technology which overcomes all limitations of Fuel Cell and has many other advantages compared to any other alternate technology.
Zirconia sensor is based on Nerst equation where partial pressure of O2 is inversely proportional to sensor output and hence are very accurate at lower concentrations of O2. Zirconia sensor response is logarithmic and has very high resolution at ppm and ppb range.

E = Millivolt signal
R = Gas constant
T = Absolute temperature
F = Faradays constant
Po2(ref) = Partial pressure of the oxygen in reference gas
Po2(test) = Partial pressure of the oxygen in process gas

It has very fast response and can be scaled to wide range from ppb to ppm to percentage vol. measurements. Life of zirconia sensor is not affected by ambient air and hence does not need nitrogen purging. It has infinite shelf life and operating life of more than five years, so no issues of frequent sensor replacement. The sensors are very rugged and can withstand pressure upto 5 bar. It has low cross sensitivity compared to micro fuel cell technology. Also cost wise the zirconia technology based Trace Analyzer is at par with Micro Fuel Cell based technology. There is no maintenance and recurring sensor replacement cost. When compared to Micro Fuel Cell, the overall product life cycle zirconia technology proves to be more economic and accurate.

Bhoomi has adopted both technologies for measurement of trace oxygen based on reliability, accuracy and flexibility. Both technologies are available in different mounting options. Our models for trace oxygen are highly accurate, features user friendly interface, one point and two point calibration along with digital and analog output.