Patent EP0849588A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0849588A2
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EP
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Automotive hydrocarbon sensor
Assignee: Corning Inc
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Filing: 1997-12-03
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-12-03
Abstract
Abstract A system for measuring the non-methane HC concentration of gas sample, e.g., automotive exhaust gas, comprises a sensor catalyst capable of selectively oxidizing the combination of CO+ H 2 +alkene hydrocarbons in a gas sample and a catalytic differential calorimetric sensor downstream of the sensor catalyst, capable of producing an output signal representative of the exothermic effect of oxidation of the remaining aromatic and alkane hydrocarbons in the gas sample. The system also includes a heater for maintaining both the sensor catalyst and the catalytic calorimetric sensor at a temperature sufficient to effect substantially complete oxidation of the CO+H 2 +alkene hydrocarbon combination and the aromatic and alkane hydrocarbons, respectively. Lastly, the system includes a means for analyzing the output signal representative of the concentration of unburned aromatic and alkane hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas to determine concentration of the total non-methane hydrocarbon species. A method carried out by the system comprises the following steps: (1) contacting a portion of a exhaust gas sample with a sensor catalyst which selectively oxidizes a combination of CO+H 2 +alkene hydrocarbons; and thereafter, (2) contacting the oxidized portion of the exhaust gas sample with a sensor producing an output signal representative of the concentration of the aromatic and alkane hydrocarbons in the oxidized exhaust gas portion; (3) analyzing the output signal thereby determining the total hydrocarbon concentration in the exhaust gas.
Inventors
- 👤 Margaret Kathleen Faber
- 👤 Yuming Xie
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 19:17
CPC Classifications
F; F01; F01N; F01N11/00; G; G01; G01N; G01N25/00; G01N25/20; G01N25/22; G01N25/28; G01N25/30; G01N27/00; G01N27/02; G01N27/04; G01N27/14; G01N27/16; G01N33/00; G01N33/0004; G01N33/0009; G01N33/0027; G01N33/0036; G01N33/0047; F01N2550/00; F01N2550/02; F02; F02B; F02B77/00; F02B77/08; Y; Y02; Y02T; Y02T10/00; Y02T10/10; Y02T10/40
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
A system for measuring the hydrocarbon concentration of a gas sample, comprising: a sensor catalyst having an oxidation catalyst capable of selectively oxidizing the
combination of CO+ H 2 +alkene hydrocarbons species in the gas sample; a catalytic differential calorimetric sensor, capable of producing a output signal
representative of the exothermic effect of the remaining aromatic and alkane
hydrocarbons species in the gas sample; and, a heater for maintaining each of the sensor catalyst and the catalytic calorimetric
sensor at a temperature sufficient to effect substantially complete oxidation of
the CO+H 2 +alkene hydrocarbon and aromatic and alkane hydrocarbon species,
respectively; a means for analyzing the output signal representative of the concentration of unburned
aromatic and alkane hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas to determine
concentration of the total non-methane hydrocarbon species.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the catalytic differential calorimetric sensor comprises
a substrate comprising a first catalytic portion having an oxidation catalyst capable of
oxidizing the remaining alkane and aromatic hydrocarbon species in the gas sample and
an adjacent second reference portion.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 2 wherein the sensor oxidation catalyst comprises a catalyst-support
material and a precious metal material and the adjacent reference portion
comprises an uncatalyzed catalytic-support material.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system of claim 2 wherein the oxidation catalyst comprises a catalyst support
material and a precious metal material and the adjacent reference portion comprises an
oxidation catalyst comprising a catalytic-support material and a precious metal material
capable of selectively oxidizing the combination of CO+ H 2 +alkene hydrocarbons.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 3 wherein the oxidation catalyst of the sensor catalyst is
comprised of a high surface area catalyst-support material and a precious metal material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 5 wherein the sensor catalyst comprises either a tubular body or
a monolithic honeycomb body comprising the high surface area catalyst-support material
upon which the precious metal is deposited.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 5 wherein the sensor device and the sensor catalyst catalyst-support
material is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of
alumina, zirconia, silica, ceria and mixtures thereof.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system of claim 5 wherein the precious metal of the sensor catalyst and the
sensor is selected from the group consisting of rhodium, platinum, palladium, iridium,
silver, gold, ruthenium, osmium, and mixtures thereof.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 2 wherein the sensor oxidation catalyst is comprised of a
ceria/zirconia solid solution catalyst-support material and a precious metal is comprised
of platinum.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the oxidation catalyst of the sensor catalyst is
comprised of a high surface area silica material and a precious metal comprising
rhodium.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
72 words
The system of claim 10 wherein the oxidation catalyst comprises an amount of
highly dispersed rhodium cluster deposits on the surface of a high surface area catalyst-support
material, the rhodium cluster deposits comprising a single rhodium atom or a
cluster of at least two rhodium atoms, the deposits having a diameter of less than about
5 nm and covering no greater than about 10% of the surface area of the catalyst-support
material.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 2 wherein the sensor includes a means for measuring the
temperature the catalyzed portion and the second reference portion.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 12 wherein the means of measuring the temperature is selected
from the group consisting of thermocouples, thermistors and resistance temperature
devices.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 12 wherein both the heater and the means for measuring the
temperature comprises a resistance temperature device.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor catalyst and the differential catalytic
calorimetric sensor are located within a tubular housing which is located in an internal
combustion engine exhaust stream downstream of a main catalytic converter.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
96 words
A method of measuring the hydrocarbon concentration of an exhaust gas
comprising the steps of: (1) contacting a portion of the exhaust gas with a sensor catalyst which selectively
oxidizes a combination of CO+H 2 +alkene hydrocarbons; and thereafter (2) contacting the oxidized portion of the exhaust gas with a sensor producing an
output signal representative of the concentration of the aromatic and alkane
hydrocarbon species in the oxidized exhaust gas portion, (3) analyzing the output signal thereby determining the aromatic and alkene
hydrocarbon concentration and thereafter the total non-methane hydrocarbon
concentration in the exhaust gas.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 16 involving a catalytic differential calorimetric sensor
oxidizing the remaining alkane and aromatic oxidizable species in the exhaust gas
portion and thereafter producing an output signal representative of the exothermic effect
of the oxidation.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 16 involving producing a temperature differential as the output
signal.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim of claim 16 wherein the exhaust gas is part of an exhaust
stream produced by an internal combustion engine and the contacting of steps 1 and 2 is
performed downstream of a catalytic converter.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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