Energy/Energy efficiency Simultaneous detection of a wide range of gases for hydrogen and natural gas suppliers Compact multi-gas analyser makes laboratory spectroscopy useable in industry Dr Alexander Stratmann A new gas analyser, the Optical Gas Spectrometer (OGS), immediately detects almost all relevant gases with which hydrogen may be contaminated in a single measurement process. Bosch developers have succeeded in transferring the capacity and performance of conventional laboratory spectroscopic equipment into a device the size of a shoebox. There is already an operational mobile OGS device, and it is currently being tested. The developers are currently looking for further development partners and beta testers for their pre-production device. This is because the industrialisation of optical spectroscopy makes it relatively easy to measure the concentration of a wide variety of gases simultaneously. This opens up the most diverse fields of application: from the hydrogen economy to natural gas supply and the chemical industry. Fig. 1: The new multi-gas analyser is suited for field use. (Photo © : Bosch) sent if it is to be used as a fuel, and lay down corresponding purity requirements. Until now, most detection methods required you to select them based on the specific gas you wanted to test for. The new gas detection method which is being tested in practice does not have this limitation. It detects hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) and sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) as well as various other gases, for example H 2 , O 2 , N 2 and NO 2 , CO and CO 2 , CH 4 and H 2 O. The technology makes it easy to identify hydrocarbons such as alcohols and aromatics. The major advantage of the new device is that it determines the exact concentration of all these gases simultaneously. Laboratory spectroscopy becomes handy The starting point for the development of the new multi-gas analyser was the search for a method to identify nitrogen leaks. As N 2 cannot be measured using other methods, the Stuttgart-based supplier set out to scale down the spectroscopic measurement method, which had previously only been used in facilities in chemical laboratories that were several cubic metres in size and cost several hundred thousand euros, to the size of conventional 19-inch racks. In the process, the company succeeded in condensing a laboratory set-up developed over many years into a handy measuring system. This, among other things, was made pos sible by new semiconductor technology used in the OGS. To the developers' delight, however, the new device was not just suitable for detecting nitrogen; almost any other gases – with the exception of noble gases – can also be detected using this method. New semiconductor technology brings breakthrough Although the spectroscopic measurement method only has a low sensitivity by nature, the developers have succeeded in bringing the sensitivity to a practical level thanks to a special device design and through the new semiconductor technology. The current prototype measures concentrations in the ppm range within a few seconds. If the measurement duration is extended, correspondingly lower concentrations can be detected – this applies to all measurable components simultaneously. For example, the concentration of the vast Purity requirements for hydrogen suppliers Hydrogen is playing an increasingly important role as a source of energy – whether for vehicles with fuelcell drives or for natural gas supply. The challenge in producing hydrogen, however, is to obtain it with the required purity. Standards such as DIN EN 17124 and ISO 14687 define the quality of hydrogen that must be pre- Fig. 2: The Optical Gas Spectrometer method (OGS) measures the concentration of a wide variety of gases simultaneously. (Source: Bosch) 22 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2022
majority of gases listed in DIN EN 17124 as impurities in hydrogen fuel can be determined using exactly the same online measurement process and read out via data interface as required. Uncomplicated field use The method has almost no interfering factors and also no mutual influences. The validation plan not only includes the determination of linearity and the recording of detection limits, but also investigations into the robustness of this new analytical technique. Humidity is not a problem for the meter and there is no risk of corrosion. The device is currently designed for an operating pressure of up to 10 bar, although measurements with gas pressures of up to 30 bar are also possible as an option. The temperature range for the measurement is between 10° and 40 °C. One current development goal is to make the method useable at even higher pressures and in a wider temperature range. It is also conceivable that devices for a wide range of specific application scenarios will be ready for series production in the future. Hydrogen as fuel One of these application scenarios is to determine the impurities in hydrogen for fuel cells. Due to the low limits that apply to impurities in hydrogen fuel, the analyses involve significant overhead. A mobile multigas analyser for field use promises to make things much easier in this regard. What's more the device is not just able to detect impurities, but also hydrogen itself. Bosch is currently developing the technology further as part of the publicly funded project "HyQ²Ra" specifically for high-pressure applications such as hydrogen refueling stations. The funding comes from the German Federa l Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), and the other project partners are Linde, RuboLab and Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB). A wide variety of application scenarios For industrialised optical spectroscopy, there are many other fields of application in which gas measurements are involved. For example, the specialty gases division produces special calibration gas mixtures More power for LEWA ecosmart: NEW! New pump sizes available! Efficient, safe, cost-effective – the low-price diaphragm metering pump. – New sizes LCC and LCD – Flow rates of up to 2,000 l/h per pump head, discharge pressure up to 80 bar – Multiplex pumps available Fig. 3: Prototype of the OGS analyzer with various interfaces. (Photo © : Bosch) Find out more: www.lewa.com
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