Optical Oxygen Gas Sensor - FDO2
The Next Generation Oxygen Gas Sensor
Patents: US 10,495,619 / DE 10 2016 114 918 / (EP 3 282 244 pending)
The FDO2 oxygen sensor is a factory calibrated, robust, accurate, fast response, long lasting and almost maintenance free oxygen sensor for demanding gas sensing applications, e.g. for oxygen gas monitoring in glove boxes, portable equipment, exhaust gases, Mars rovers and more. Although the form factor is similar to conventional electro-galvanic oxygen sensors (oxygen fuel cells), the sensor operates on a completely different, an optical principle. The optical measurement is based on a propriatary luminescent sensor dye from PyroScience, which is sensitive to oxygen partial pressure. This principle is very robust and shows virtually no interferences to other gases. It does not deplete over time, unlike electro-galvanic oxygen sensors with their very limited shelf and operation life. Optics and electronics are hermetically sealed from the measured gas and the sensing surface is highly hydrophobic, so water droplets do not disturb the measurement. For typical indoor environmental conditions a 10 year operating life is expected.
The flow-through cell FDO2-FTC enables simple integration in a variety of gas-streams. The USB interface cable FDO2-USB comes together with a versatile evaluation software (more details under Accessories).
Outstanding Features
- factory calibration
- fast response time (t63 <2 sec)
- low drift (typ. < 1% O2/year at 21% O2)
- long life (> 5 years)
- simple 1-point user calibration (e.g. at air)
- wide measuring range (0 -100% O2, up to 200% O2 on request)
- standard form factor (M16x1, Ø=28 mm)
- ease of use (digital output of partial pressure oxygen)
- integrated ambient air pressure sensor can be used for calculating %O2
- reliability (e.g. tested and integrated by NASA in Mars Rover 2020)
- highly hydrophobic sensing surface (water droplets do not disturb the measurement)
- full RoHS compliancy (lead/Pb free)
- simple communication interface (UART, command or broadcast mode)
- low energy consumption (3.3V, typ. 8mA)
- linearity over the full oxygen range and sensor lifetime
Brochures
Comparison to Classical Electro-Galvanic Oxygen Sensors
| Optical Oxygen Sensor FDO2 | Electro-Galvanic Oxygen Sensors | |
| Life Time | > 5 years | typ. 6-24 months |
| Drift | < 1% O2 / year at 21% O2 | typ. 1% O2 / month at 21% O2 |
| Response Time (t63) |
< 2s | typ. 10-20 s |
| Warm Up Time | 3 min | up to 30 min |
| RoHS | Lead (Pb) free | Most contain lead |
| Health Hazards | No known hazards |
Lead leakage hazard: |
| Output | Digital output of calibrated oxygen units | Voltage, must be calibrated by the user and converted into oxygen units |
| Temperature Compensation | Oxygen readings are automatically temperature compensated. The patented construction of the FDO2 ensures very good compensation even during fast temperature transitions. | Many galvanic cells are not temperature compensated. |
| Sealed Electronics |
The complete optoelectronics is hermetically sealed from the measured gas, due to the "contact-less" optical measurement principle. | Hermetical sealing not possible, because the oxygen must enter the galvanic cell. |
Common Applications
- Monitoring of oxygen concentration
- Incubators
- Oxygen concentrators
- Inert gas processing chambers (glove boxes)
- Exhaust gas measurement
- Inert gas monitoring
- Portable equipment
- Monitoring fruit ripening and transport
