The escape of hydrocarbons from a variety of sources can present a health and safety problem. This proposal is for research funds to explore a flameless ionization concept to detect such gases. Small quantities of hydrocarbons (e.g., 0.03% v/v) in either air or rare gases can generate large Penning effects (enhanced ionization through collisions with metastable states). Initial exploratory studies have shown that, with the appropriate choice of ion source, this effect may be used to detect increased current flow, at atmospheric pressure, due to the presence of hydrocarbons. In this study, a critical examination will be made to identify whether this concept has any quantitative merit as a means of specific detection of low-levels of hydrocarbons in environmental atmospheres.The potential commercial application as described by the awardee: Research will lead to the development of a low cost, robust device capable of detecting low, or potentially hazardous, levels of hydrocarbon gases.
