Evaluation of Miniaturized Infrared Sensors for Process Control of the Palladium Membrane Reactor

摘要

We have tested the suitability of a miniaturized infrared sensor for measurements of CO and H(sub 2)O in the inlet stream to the Palladium Membrane Reactor (PMR). We demonstrated that both analytes can be measured with absolute accuracies of 2-4% at the process inlet conditions of 120-140 C and approximately 1 atm of each gas. This accuracy must be improved to 1-1.5% for effective PMR process control. The use of a reference detector and independent temperature and pressure measurements to correct the raw signals will improve the accuracy to a level that will approach, if not meet, this goal. With appropriate bandpass filters, the infrared sensors may be used for other gas analysis applications.