Hydrogen monitoring for power plant applications using SiC sensors

We have developed a high-temperature gas sensing system for the detection of combustion products under harsh conditions, such as an energy plant. The sensor, based on the wide band gap semiconductor silicon carbide (SiC), is a catalytic gate field-effect device (Pt–SiO2–SiC) that can detect hydrogen-containing species in chemically reactive, high-temperature environments. The hydrogen response of the device in an industrially robust module was determined under both laboratory and industrial conditions (1000 sccm of 350 °C gas) from 52 ppm to 50% H2, with the sensor held at 620 °C. From our data we find that the hydrogen adsorption kinetics at the catalyst–oxide interface are well fitted by the linearized Langmuir adsorption isotherm. For hydrogen monitoring in a coal gasification application, we investigated the effect of common interferants on the device response to a 20% H2 gas stream. Within our signal to noise ratio, 40% CO and 5% CH4 had no measurable effect and a 2000 ppm pulse of H2S did not poison the Pt sensing film. We have demonstrated the long-term reliability of our SiC sensor and the robustness of the sensor packaging techniques, as all the data are from a single device, obtained during 5 days of industrial measurements in addition to ∼480 continuous hours of operation under laboratory conditions.