A Survey of Concepts/Techniques for Sensing Oxygen in Aircraft Oxygen-Generating Systems

摘要

This survey has shown that the commercial market has concentrated mainly on chemical-type oxygen sensors. We believe that industry in general is 'on top' of the opportunities for improving chemical-type oxygen sensors, and that new developments in chemical sensors will most likely come from industry. Most work in the solid-state sensor area has been very fundamental, and oxygen sensor development has not been pursued by industry. The solid-state area is believed to offer good promise for the development of improved oxygen sensors, and further research should be conducted, particularly in the thin-film oxide area. The area of fluidics also warrants further investigation. An approach using fluidic oscillators should be considered. A modified sound separation probe should also be considered as a possible acoustic approach. Questions of measurement sensitivity are of the greatest concern here however. Of all of the recommendations given above, we believe that the solid-state area holds the best promise for immediate improvement. (Author)