Aluminum oxide moisture sensor and related method
First Claim
1. A method of operating an aluminum oxide moisture sensor to measure moisture in a sample gas, where the sensor comprises a pair of electrodes sandwiched about a dielectric, the method comprising:
- a) heating the sensor to a first temperature above the sample gas temperature and holding the sensor at said first temperature for a first predetermined period of time;
b) cooling down the sensor to a second lower temperature over a second predetermined period of time;
c) taking plural samples of sensor conductance over a third predetermined period of time at said lower temperature; and
d) determining a rate of adsorption of the moisture and using the rate of adsorption as a measure of moisture in the sample gas.
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Abstract
A method of operating an aluminum oxide moisture sensor to measure moisture in a sample gas, where the sensor comprises a pair of electrodes sandwiched about a dielectric, the method comprising: a) heating the sensor to a first temperature above the sample gas temperature and holding the sensor at said first temperature for a first predetermined period of time; b) cooling down the sensor to a second lower temperature over a second predetermined period of time; c) taking plural samples of sensor conductance over a third predetermined period of time at the lower temperature; and d) determining a rate of adsorption of the moisture and using the rate of adsorption as a measure of moisture in the sample gas.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of operating an aluminum oxide moisture sensor to measure moisture in a sample gas, where the sensor comprises a pair of electrodes sandwiched about a dielectric, the method comprising:
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a) heating the sensor to a first temperature above the sample gas temperature and holding the sensor at said first temperature for a first predetermined period of time;
b) cooling down the sensor to a second lower temperature over a second predetermined period of time;
c) taking plural samples of sensor conductance over a third predetermined period of time at said lower temperature; and
d) determining a rate of adsorption of the moisture and using the rate of adsorption as a measure of moisture in the sample gas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of operating an aluminum oxide moisture sensor to measure moisture in a sample gas, where the sensor comprises a pair of electrodes sandwiched about a dielectric, the method comprising:
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a) heating the sensor to a first temperature above the sample gas temperature and holding the sensor at said first temperature for a first predetermined period of time;
b) cooling down the sensor to a second lower temperature over a second predetermined period of time;
c) taking plural samples of sensor conductance over a third predetermined period of time at said lower temperature; and
d) determining a rate of adsorption of the moisture and using the rate of adsorption as a measure of moisture in the sample gas;
wherein step d) is carried out in part by applying a 10-point moving average filter to said plural samples of sensor conductance to obtain data filtered for noise reduction, and by performing a linear regression on the data filtered for noise reduction to obtain a slope representative of the rate of adsorption.
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15. A method of operating an aluminum oxide moisture sensor to measure moisture in a sample gas, where the sensor comprises a pair of electrodes sandwiched about a dielectric, the method comprising:
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a) heating the sensor to a first temperature above the sample gas temperature and holding the sensor at said first temperature for a first predetermined period of time;
b) cooling down the sensor to a second lower temperature over a second predetermined period of time;
c) taking plural samples of sensor conductance over a third predetermined period of time at said lower temperature; and
d) determining a rate of adsorption of the moisture and using the rate of adsorption as a measure of moisture in the sample gas;
wherein step c) is carried out by taking about 100 samples of sensor conductance over a period of between about 60 and 90 seconds;
wherein step d) is carried out in part by applying a 10-point moving average filter to said plural moisture samples to obtain data filtered for noise reduction and by performing a linear regression on the data filtered for noise reduction to obtain a slope representative of the rate of adsorption.
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16. A method of operating an aluminum oxide moisture sensor to measure moisture in a sample gas, where the sensor comprises a pair of electrodes sandwiched about a dielectric, and the method comprising:
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a) heating the sensor to a first temperature above the sample gas temperature and holding the sensor at said first temperature for a first predetermined period of time;
b) cooling down the sensor to a second lower temperature over a second predetermined period of time;
c) taking plural samples of sensor conductance over a third predetermined period of time at said second lower temperature; and
d) determining a rate of adsorption of the moisture and using the rate of adsorption as a measure of moisture in the sample gas;
wherein step c) is carried out by taking about 100 samples of sensor conductance, and wherein said third predetermined period of time is about 60 and 90 seconds; and
wherein step d) is carried out in part by applying a 10-point moving average filter to said plural samples of sensor conductance to obtain data filtered for noise reduction; and
by performing a linear repression regression on the data filtered for noise reduction to obtain a slope representative of the rate of adsorption. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification