This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project will demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a low cost process control sensor for advanced alternative energy and catalysis applications. Sensor could be a component in as many as 1.2 million fuel cell vehicles projected to be on the road in 2010 and a component in the electrical generation market which could surpass $100 Billion in 2010. The sensor will measure carbon monoxide in the part-per-million to percent range in a wet, high concentration, hydrogen stream with significant carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2) concentrations. Although large nondispersive infrared (NDIR) instruments are the standard solution to this measurement problem, NDIR is prohibitively expensive for many applications including fuel cell power plants, and transportation applications, and quite expensive for industrial processes such as urea manufacture and oil refining. Phase II will develop an easily manufactured sensor costing a few dollars apiece in large quantity as opposed to current IR systems costing thousands to tens of thousands of dollars apiece. This project will have a direct impact on reducing United States dependence on foreign oil by making highly efficient fuel systems practical.
