Autonomous Electrochemical Gas Detection Microsystem for Mine Safety

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jin R ; Mason A ; Zeng X
• Description:
  A project titled, "Autonomous Electrochemical Gas Detection Microsystem for Mine Safety" was recently completed by Drs. Andrew Mason (mason@msu.edu), Xiangqun Zen, and Rong Jin. Despite continued safety improvements and increased regulations, underground mines remain a very dangerous work environment, as evident from gas explosions and numerous reports of worker injury in mines. Although many handheld portable gas sensors have been developed, none of them meet the challenging set of cost/utility/capability requirements that prevent the pervasive use of personal, continuous-use hazardous gas monitors in the real-world mine environments. The overarching goal of our project is to develop the technologies and techniques that enable a gas monitoring system which can be widely deployed with mine workers to monitor personal exposures to gaseous hazards, autonomously, in real time, over extended periods and in real world conditions. Within the aims of this grant, we establish ionic liquid (IL) electrochemical gas sensors as a promising new technology with many significant advantages over current existing commercial gas sensors and gas analyzers. By combining the unique physical and chemical properties of IL electrolytes (negligible vapor pressure, high chemical, thermal and electrochemical stabilities), a novel microfabricated electrode structure, and integrated electronics for electrochemical instrumentation, we demonstrated that a miniaturized sensor IL gas sensor system was feasible with performance specifications heretofore unavailable with existing gas sensor. Sensors for explosive and flammable methane gas and hazardous permanent gases including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide were developed and characterized. In an underground mine environment, lack of a safe level of oxygen can be as dangerous as hazardous gases, and thus our IL technology was also used to implement a miniaturized oxygen sensor. Techniques for maximizing sensor response time were explored and a novel sensor structure was developed to provide rapid response to changing environmental conditions. The long term stability of the sensors was studied and methods for sensor drift calibration were developed. Overall, this R01 project allowed us to establish the basic principles and technical pathways to achieve our goal of an autonomous electrochemical gas detection microsystem for mine safety. Beyond the successes of this project for individual gases, a key finding of our research was that multi-gas measurement in real world gas mixtures and real world environmental conditions (including sensor drift, interference of other gases, and variations due to temperature and humidity) will require further development focused on a comprehensive "sensor array" approach to overcome challenges inherent to mixed gas sensing. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Chemistry Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Explosions Explosive Agents Methane Mining Nitrogen Dioxide Occupational Health Oxygen Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Chemical Properties Electrolytes Environmental Exposure Environmental Hazards Explosive Gases Explosive Hazards Explosives Exposure Levels Gas Detectors Hazards Injuries Methanes Mine Safety Monitoring Systems Nitrogen Dioxide Nitrogen Dioxides Physical Properties Risk Factors Sulfur Dioxide Underground Mines Work Environment Workers

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• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048614
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2016-104788
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R01-OH-009644, 2015 Dec; :1-12
• Contact Point Address:
  Andrew Mason, Department of Electrical Engineering and computer science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
• Email:
  mason@msu.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Methane (CAS RN 74-82-8) ; Nitrogen dioxide (CAS RN 10102-44-0) ; Sulfur dioxide (CAS RN 7446-09-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20100901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20150831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f8e93fd61ea28867e4ea9f370849622bbc1c7f9f2de4a4892e7426550d82223745d8aeee48dcd251b9fb048a9c56104857e15961eeeda865683f5d773634ddf4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218648/cdc_218648_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 471.28 KB ]