Patent Application
20220381726
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to determining a proportion of hydrogen in a mixture. Some relate to determining a proportion of hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas.
It has been identified that greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by blending natural gas with hydrogen, thereby reducing the quantity of hydrocarbons that are present in a given volume of gas. It is currently thought that such blends might initially include around 1-2% of hydrogen, before being increased to 10-20% at a later date.
Industrial users may wish to determine the proportion of hydrogen in a hydrogen-natural gas blend so that they can account for it in their industrial processes.
The blending of hydrogen with natural gas produces a mixture with a calorific value that is different from that of the natural gas. In circumstances in which it is desirable to align the calorific value of such a blend with the monetary value (for example, if one wishes to attribute a higher price to a blend with a higher calorific value), then one may wish to determine the proportion of hydrogen in the blend in order to attribute an appropriate monetary value.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments there is provided an apparatus for determining a proportion of hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas, the apparatus comprising: a first chamber for receiving air; a second chamber for receiving the mixture of hydrogen and natural gas; a first electrode for adsorbing oxygen molecules from air in the first chamber and for reducing the oxygen molecules to oxide ions; a second electrode; an ionic conductor for transporting the oxide ions from the first electrode to the second electrode in order to cause the transported oxide ions to combine with hydrogen molecules at the second electrode; sensing circuitry for sensing an electrical parameter associated with the combination of the transported oxide ions with the hydrogen molecules at the second electrode; and processing circuitry configured to determine a proportion of hydrogen relative to natural gas in the mixture, based at least in part on the electrical parameter sensed by the sensing circuitry.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments there is provided a method for determining a proportion of hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas, the method comprising: receiving air in first chamber; adsorbing oxygen molecules from air in the first chamber and reducing the oxygen molecules to oxide ions using a first electrode; transporting the oxide ions from the first electrode to a second electrode using an ionic conductor; receiving the mixture of hydrogen and natural gas in a second chamber; combining the oxide ions with hydrogen molecules at the second electrode; sensing an electrical parameter associated with the combination of the transported oxide ions with the hydrogen molecules at the second electrode; and determining a proportion of hydrogen relative to natural gas in the mixture, based at least in part on the sensed electrical parameter.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments there is provided an apparatus for sensing hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas, the apparatus comprising: a first chamber for receiving air; a second chamber for receiving the mixture of hydrogen and natural gas; a first electrode for adsorbing oxygen molecules from air in the first chamber and for reducing the oxygen molecules to oxide ions; a second electrode; an ionic conductor for transporting the oxide ions from the first electrode to the second electrode in order to cause the transported oxide ions to combine with hydrogen molecules at the second electrode; and sensing circuitry for sensing an electrical parameter associated with the combination of the transported oxide ions with the hydrogen molecules at the second electrode.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments there is provided a method for sensing hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas, the method comprising: receiving air in first chamber; adsorbing oxygen molecules from air in the first chamber and reducing the oxygen molecules to oxide ions using a first electrode; transporting the oxide ions from the first electrode to a second electrode using an ionic conductor; receiving the mixture of hydrogen and natural gas in a second chamber; combining the oxide ions with hydrogen molecules at the second electrode; and sensing an electrical parameter associated with the combination of the transported oxide ions with the hydrogen molecules at the second electrode.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments there is provided an apparatus for determining a proportion of hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas, the apparatus comprising: a first electrode; a second electrode; an ionic conductor for transporting charge carriers from the first electrode to the second electrode; sensing circuitry for sensing an electrical parameter associated with the transportation of charge carriers to the second electrode; and processing circuitry configured to determine a proportion of hydrogen relative to natural gas in a mixture, based at least in part on the electrical parameter sensed by the sensing circuitry.
Some examples will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Embodiments of the invention relate to an apparatus for determining a proportion/concentration (such as a molar concentration) of hydrogen in a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas (otherwise known as a hydrogen-natural gas blend). The apparatus comprises an electroceramic cell that is sensitive to hydrogen. An electric current output by the electroceramic cell depends on the proportion of hydrogen in a given volume of a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. Consequently, the output electric current can be used to determine the proportion of hydrogen that is present in the mixture.
Advantageously, once the proportion of hydrogen in the mixture has been determined, industrial users are able to adapt their industrial processes (e.g. in glass-making) to account for it and/or an appropriate monetary value can be attributed to the mixture.
The first electrode 20, the ionic conductor 30 and the second electrode 40 collectively form an electroceramic cell 45.
The ionic conductor 30 might, for example, be a ceramic ionic conductor such as a ceramic electrolyte. The ceramic electrolyte 30 might, for example, be made at least in part from gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC), samarium doped ceria, scandia stabilised zirconia, lanthanum strontium gallium magnesium or yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ), such as 8YSZ. A ceramic electrolyte 30 is particularly suitable for use in the apparatus 100, facilitating the imposing of conditions and pairing the electrodes 20, 40, in order to demonstrate a high selectivity of hydrogen over methane.
The (ceramic) ionic conductor 30 might be or comprise a (ceramic) semiconductor material. For example, the ionic conductor 30 may be a (ceramic) semiconductor material such as a metal oxide (e.g. tin oxide) or a metalloid oxide (e.g. silicon dioxide). The (ceramic) semiconductor material may be doped. Such a (doped, ceramic) semiconductor 30 might be used instead of a ceramic electrolyte as described above or in combination with such a ceramic electrolyte.
The ionic conductor 30 might be substantially planar in shape, as illustrated in
The first and second electrodes 20, 40 are electrically conductive. The first electrode 20 is positioned on a first surface/face 32 of the ionic conductor 30. The second electrode 40 is positioned on a second surface/face 34 of the ionic conductor 30. Each of the first and second surfaces are defined by the length L and the width W of the ionic conductor 30. The first and second electrodes 20, 40 are on opposite surfaces 32, 34 of the ionic conductor 30 in that they are separated by the depth D of the ionic conductor 30.
In some embodiments, one or both of the first and second electrodes 20, 40 is a thin film. The first and second electrodes 20, 40 might be deposited or coated on the first and second surfaces 32, 34 of the ionic conductor 30 such as by using screen printing or sputter vapour deposition techniques. It is preferable that the thickness of the thin films be sufficient to ensure durability and prevent atomisation. It has been found that a thickness of the order of 250 nm is suitable.
The first and second electrodes 20, 40 are porous. The patterning is such that at least a portion of the first and second surfaces 32, 34 of the ionic conductor 30 remain uncovered (within the outer boundary of each of the electrodes 20, 40) to enable gas ingress into the ionic conductor 30. In addition, in the illustrated example an area 31, 33 around the outer boundary of the electrodes 20, 40 at periphery of each of the first and second surfaces 32, 34 is uncovered. This area 31, 33 may be used to seal the electroceramic cell 45 within the apparatus 100. This is described later.
A mask may be used to form the first and/or second electrodes 20, 40 in a particular pattern. In one example, a porous foam or mesh is used as a mask in a sputtering process to scatter a deposited film on the first and second surfaces of the ionic conductor 30.
In some alternative examples, the first and second electrodes 20, 40 might not be thin film electrodes. The electrodes 20, 40 might instead be formed using a slurry or an equivalent mixture and might therefore be thicker in nature. In this regard, each of the first and second electrodes 20, 40 might be made from a combination of a nanostructured bed/scaffold and one or more catalysts. For instance, the first and second electrodes 20, 40 might be made from a cermet (a composite of ceramic and metal) or a ceramic semiconductor doped with the metallic compound. The ceramic material in the cermet might be the same material that the ionic conductor 30 is formed from, including the ceramic-semiconductor mixtures. It is preferable that the metal/catalyst loading within the electrode 20, 40 is sufficient so as to fulfil the requirement of durability, in the order of 1 mg/cm2 or greater.
A scaffold bed may also be used to form the porous backbone of each of the electrodes 20, 40. This scaffold may be made out of the same ceramic material as the electrolyte/semiconductor 30. Thereafter, the required amount of catalyst compound may be deposited or infiltrated into the scaffold to form an electrode 20, 40 with a suitable porosity.
The first electrode 20 may be made, at least in part, from at least one of: platinum, silver, nickel, lanthanum strontium manganite or lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite.
It has been determined that the use of these materials for the first electrode 20 is advantageous in that they have a high thermochemical stability such that they produce a similar current for a given voltage and oxygen concentration.
The second electrode 40 may be made, at least in part, from at least one of: platinum, gold, silver, rhodium or lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite.
It has been determined that use of these materials for the second electrode 40 is advantageous in that they: (i) provide enhanced selectivity to process hydrogen adsorption and surface reactions over competing reactions such as methane oxidation, reforming, etc.; (ii) demonstrate a high resistance to carbon deposition on the electrode, such that operation of the electroceramic cell 45 remains uninhibited over time and retains a known/expected sensitivity to hydrogen; (iii) are compatible with ceramic electrolytes such as GDC and YSZ (if such a ceramic electrolyte is used), thereby enhancing the high resistance to carbon deposition described above in (ii); (iv) demonstrate a high tolerance to the presence of possible corrosive elements such as H2S in the mixture; and (v) remain operational in expected the operating conditions and mixtures that they are exposed to.
In one combination, the first electrode 20 is formed from at least in part from platinum, the ionic conductor 30 is formed from GDC and the second electrode 40 is formed at least in part from gold. This is an example of an asymmetric cell 45 because the electrodes 20, 40 are formed at least in part from different materials. In another combination, the first and second electrodes 20 are formed from silver and the ionic conductor 30 is formed from YSZ. This is an example of a symmetric cell 45 because the electrodes 20, 40 are formed from the same material.
The assembly 100 comprises a housing 200 that defines the first and second chambers 10, 50. The housing 200 comprises a first housing part 8 and a second housing part 58. The housing 200 is formed is attaching the two housing parts 8, 58 to each other. The first chamber 10 has a fixed volume and is located in/defined by the first housing part 8. The second chamber 50 has a fixed volume and is defined by/located in the second housing part 58. Each of the first and second housing parts 8, 58 have the same shape in this example, such that the fixed volumes of the first and second chambers 10, 50 are the same. This might or might not be the case in other examples.
Each of the first and second housing parts 8, 58 might be formed from at least one ceramic in order to provide the housing parts 8, 58 with thermal properties that closely match the electroceramic cell 45. Alternatively, the electroceramic cell 45 might be externally supported by fabrication on a ceramic substrate to compact the assembly and improve electrochemical performance.
In the illustrated example, each of the housing parts 8, 58 comprises an inlet 2, 52 and an outlet 4, 54. The inlet 2 in the first housing part 8 enables air to be received in the first chamber 10 and the outlet 4 in the first housing part 8 enables air to be output from the first chamber 10. The inlet 52 in the second housing part 58 enables an analyte gas in the form of a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas to be received in the second chamber 50 and the outlet 54 in the second housing part 58 enables the mixture to be output from the second chamber 50.
The electroceramic cell 45 is secured between the first and second housing parts 8, 58. An (internal) opening 7 is illustrated in the first housing part 8 in
The second housing part 58 also includes an (internal) opening which, though not shown in
Each of the first and second seals 92, 94 is a high temperature seal and might, for example, be made from Thermiculite® 866.
The opening 7 in the first housing part 8 enables air/oxygen to pass from the first chamber 10 and into electroceramic cell 45 via its first surface 32 comprising the first electrode 20. The opening in the second housing part 58 enables hydrogen and natural gas to pass from the second chamber 50 and into electroceramic cell 45 via its second surface 34 comprising the second electrode 40. The first and second electrodes 20, 40 are isolated from one another in the assembly 1000. The first and second chambers 10, 50 are shaped and positioned in the assembly such that the air in the first chamber 10 is isolated from the mixture of hydrogen and natural gas in the second chamber 50.
When the assembly 1000 is assembled, the electroceramic cell 45 is positioned in between the first and second housing parts 8, 58 and sealed using the seals 92, 94. The first housing part 8 is then attached to the second housing part 58.
It can be seen in
The sensing circuitry 60, the processing circuitry 70 and the memory 80 of the apparatus 100 illustrated in
The processing circuitry 70 is configured to read from and write to the memory 80. The memory 80 stores a computer program 82 comprising computer program instructions (computer program code). The processing circuitry 70, by reading the memory 80, is able to load and execute the computer program 82. The processing circuitry 70, under the control of the computer program, is configured to interpret the electrical parameter sensed by the sensing circuitry 60. The computer program instructions of the computer program 82 provide the logic and routines carried out by the processing circuitry 70. In some implementations, operation of the apparatus 100 might be controlled by the processing circuitry 70 based on the sensed electrical parameter.
The computer program instructions may be comprised in a computer program, a non-transitory computer readable medium, a computer program product, a machine readable medium. In some but not necessarily all examples, the computer program instructions may be distributed over more than one computer program.
Although the memory 80 is illustrated as a single component/circuitry it may be implemented as one or more separate components/circuitry some or all of which may be integrated/removable and/or may provide permanent/semi-permanent/dynamic/cached storage.
Although the processing circuitry 70 is illustrated as a single component/circuitry it may be implemented as one or more separate components/circuitry some or all of which may be integrated/removable. The processing circuitry 70 may be a single core or multi-core processor.
Operation of the apparatus 100 will now be described in conjunction with the flow chart illustrated in
At block 401 in
At block 403 in
At block 404 in
At block 405 in
At block 406 in
At block 407 in
The graph illustrates the electric current that was measured for various different ratios of methane to hydrogen. The nitrogen is inert and does not react with the first electrode 20. It will be appreciated that in some examples nitrogen might not be present, and that the methane could be replaced or supplemented by one or more of ethane, propane, butane and pentane.
In this example, the processing circuitry 70 is configured to determine a proportion of hydrogen relative to natural gas in the mixture, based at least in part on the electric current sensed by the sensing circuitry 60. A look-up table may be stored in the memory 80 which associates particular values of electric current with particular proportions of hydrogen. For instance, in the illustrated example, if an electric current of approximately 45 mA were sensed by the sensing circuitry 60, the processing circuitry 70 would determine by referring to the look-up table that the proportion of hydrogen in the mixture is approximately 4.2%. If, for instance, the sensed electric current were approximately 100 mA, the processing circuitry 70 would determine by referring to the look-up table that the proportion of hydrogen in the mixture is approximately 12.5%.
As indicated in
As explained above, the ionic conductivity of the ionic conductor 30 depends on its temperature. Thus, the processing circuitry 70 might be configured to determine the proportion of hydrogen in the mixture based at least in part on at least one input provided by one or more temperature sensors of the apparatus 100. For instance, a different look-up table associating sensed electric currents with particular proportions of hydrogen might be provided for particular temperatures or temperature ranges. In the event that different potential differences are applied across the first and second electrodes 20, 40, a particular look-up table might relate to a particular potential difference and temperature/temperature range.
In the illustrated example, the temperature sensors 22a-22i in the array 22 are spatially distributed in two dimensions across the length L and width W of the first surface 32 of the ionic conductor 30. The temperature sensors 22a-22i are ordered in a grid in FIG. 6A, but need not be in other implementations. In some examples, the temperatures sensors 22a-22i might instead be spatially distributed in a single dimension only (the length dimension L or the width W dimension).
The temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i may provide temporal temperature sensing and spatial temperature sensing. Spatially, the temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i provide three-dimensional temperature sensing because they are spatially distributed across the electrodes 20, 40 in the length L and width W dimensions of the ionic conductor 30 and the two arrays 22, 42 are spatially distributed in the depth D dimension of the ionic conductor 30.
The processing circuitry 70 receives and monitors (spatial and/or temporal) inputs from the temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i. Increases in temperature will occur due to electrochemical activity in the ionic conductor 30 and catalytic activity at the electrodes 20, 40. The processing circuitry 70 can determine from the inputs whether one or more portions of the electroceramic cell 45 and/or the electrodes 20, 40 are heating up more quickly than others. For instance, the reactions taking place at the second electrode 40 are exothermic in nature. If the temperature sensors 42a-42i at the second electrode 40 indicate that one or more portions of the second electrode 50 are heating up more quickly than one or more other portions of the second electrode 40, that might indicate that those other portions are defective or that there is a flow restriction in the ionic conductor 30 that is preventing oxide ions from reaching those other portions of the second electrode 40.
The processing circuitry 70 may monitor the inputs from each temperature sensor 42a-42i at the second electrode 42a and, if the temperature differential reaches a threshold, the processing circuitry 70 might cause an alert to be provided to a user. For example, the processing circuitry 70 might be operationally coupled to a display and/or a loudspeaker and might cause a visual alert and/or an aural alert to be provided to the user.
Corresponding functionality to that described above may be provided in relation to the temperature sensors 22a-22i at the first electrode 20/first surface 32 of the ionic conductor 30.
The inputs from temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i on each side of the ionic conductor 30 provide the processing circuitry 70 with a through-depth view of temperature distribution. This might enable the processing circuitry 70 or a user to determine which side is the bottleneck or the cause in the event that the electric current output by the electroceramic cell 45 is deviant, sluggish, erratic etc.
If there is an abnormally large temperature differential across the depth of the ionic conductor 30 (e.g. 30-60° C.), it is likely to be indicative of gas leakage from the first chamber 10 to the second chamber 50 or from the second chamber 50 to the first chamber 10. This facilitates local combustion leading to a temperature spike well above the nominal operating temperature of the ionic conductor 30, accounting for the increment in temperature that occurs from electrochemical activity at the electrodes 20, 40. By having at least one temperature sensor 22a-22i, 42a-42i on each side of the electroceramic cell 45, it is possible to determine which side the combustion is taking place on, as that/those temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i will sense a higher temperature (though there will also be a lower rise/spike in temperature at the other electrode 20, 40).
If one or more temperature sensors 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d, 42f, 42g, 42h, 42i located proximate an edge of the electrode 40/ionic conductor 30 sense a higher temperature than one or more temperature sensors 42c located away from that edge, it might be indicative of sealing failure. If at least one temperature sensor 42c located in or proximate the middle of the surfaces 32, 34 of the electroceramic cell 45 senses a higher temperature than the others, it might be indicative of cracking of the ionic conductor 30.
As described above, by monitoring the inputs from temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i, analysing how each one varies over time and/or comparing the inputs from different temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i received at substantially the same time with one another, the processing circuitry 70 can identify a difference that exceeds a threshold and respond by causing a (visual and/or aural) alert to be provided to a user. In some examples, the processing circuitry 70 might merely cause the sensed temperatures from the temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i to be provided by a user (e.g. displayed on a display) and the user might then interpret the sensed temperature(s).
It was explained above that there might be a preferred minimum operating temperature for the ionic conductor 30. In some embodiments, a plurality of heating elements might be distributed in two or three dimensions in the apparatus 100 (such as in the chambers 10, 50). The temperature inputs from temperature sensors that are spatially distributed in two or three dimensions might be used by the processing circuitry 70 as a basis to control heating in two or three dimensions, by causing individual heating elements to switch on, provide more heat, provide less heat or switch off.
As explained above, the temperature inputs provided by the temperature sensors 22a-22i, 42a-42i are indicative of the amount of electrochemical activity at each of the electrodes 20, 40. The processing circuitry 70 might be configured to control a flow rate of air into the first chamber 10 based at least in part on inputs received from one or more temperature sensors 22a-22i at the first electrode 20/first surface 32 of the ionic conductor 30, and/or control a flow rate of the mixture into the second chamber 50 based at least in part on inputs received from one or more temperature sensors 42a-42i at the first electrode 20/first surface 32 of the ionic conductor 30. This might be achieved by controlling one or more valves.
It may be desirable to limit the temperature of operation of the electrochemical cell 45 to a particular maximum temperature (e.g. 500° C.) in order to limit the amount of carbon deposition that occurs at the second electrode 40. The maximum temperature limit may also aid in the health and preservation of the ionic conductor 30, to limit its electronic conductivity and maintain its purely ionic transport. This will allow the apparatus to maintain the correlation of the hydrogen gas concentration to the electrical parameter based on the maintenance of the characteristic voltage-current relation. If the processing circuitry 70 determines that the electrochemical cell 45, the first electrode 20 and/or the second electrode 40 has/have exceeded a particular maximum temperature, it might respond by switching off the cell 45 or reducing the catalytic and electrochemical activity at the cell 45. The switching off of the cell 45 or a reduction in catalytic and electrochemical activity at the cell 45 could be achieved by preventing or reducing the amount of air entering the first chamber 10, and/or preventing or reducing the amount of the mixture entering the second chamber 50. The processing circuitry 70 might do this by controlling one or more valves.
References to a “computer”, “processor” or “processing circuitry” etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having different architectures such as single/multi-processor architectures and sequential (Von Neumann)/parallel architectures but also specialized circuits such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific circuits (ASIC), signal processing devices and other processing circuitry. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to encompass software for a programmable processor or firmware such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device whether instructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array or programmable logic device etc. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to encompass artificial intelligence algorithms and, in particular, machine learning algorithms.
The blocks illustrated in
Where a structural feature has been described, it may be replaced by means for performing one or more of the functions of the structural feature whether that function or those functions are explicitly or implicitly described.
The term ‘comprise’ is used in this document with an inclusive not an exclusive meaning. That is any reference to X comprising Y indicates that X may comprise only one Y or may comprise more than one Y. If it is intended to use ‘comprise’ with an exclusive meaning then it will be made clear in the context by referring to “comprising only one . . . ” or by using “consisting”.
In this description, reference has been made to various examples. The description of features or functions in relation to an example indicates that those features or functions are present in that example. The use of the term ‘example’ or ‘for example’ or ‘can’ or ‘may’ in the text denotes, whether explicitly stated or not, that such features or functions are present in at least the described example, whether described as an example or not, and that they can be, but are not necessarily, present in some of or all other examples. Thus ‘example’, ‘for example’, ‘can’ or ‘may’ refers to a particular instance in a class of examples. A property of the instance can be a property of only that instance or a property of the class or a property of a sub-class of the class that includes some but not all of the instances in the class. It is therefore implicitly disclosed that a feature described with reference to one example but not with reference to another example, can where possible be used in that other example as part of a working combination but does not necessarily have to be used in that other example.
Although examples have been described in the preceding paragraphs with reference to various examples, it should be appreciated that modifications to the examples given can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, while two arrays 22, 42 are illustrated in
The method described above in relation to
An example is described above in which the length L and the width W of the ionic conductor 30 are each 50 mm, and the depth is 200 μm. The proportion of hydrogen in the mixture that is detectable scales with the active area of the electroceramic cell 45. Thus, if it is desired to detect the proportion of hydrogen in a mixture containing larger amounts of hydrogen (e.g. 20%), it may be appropriate to use a larger electroceramic cell 45.
One or more valves may be provided to control the flow of air into the first chamber 10. This/these valve(s) may be controlled by the processing circuitry 70. One or more valves may be provided to control the flow of the mixture into the second chamber 50. This/these valve(s) may be controlled by the processing circuitry 70. If, for example, the electric current that is produced is undesirably low, the processing circuitry 70 might control one or more valves to increase the flow of air into the first chamber 10 and/or the flow of the mixture into the second chamber 50. The control will depend on where the rate-limiting reaction is occurring; if it is at the first electrode 20, an increase in the flow of air may be desirable, whereas if it is at the second electrode 40, an increase in the flow of the mixture may be desirable. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 70 might (automatically) control the flow of air into the first chamber 10 and/or the flow of the mixture into the second chamber 50 based on the sensed electrical parameter.
Although implementations are described above in which a potential difference is applied across the electrodes 20, 40 by the sensing circuitry 60, in other examples no such potential difference is applied. Instead the electroceramic cell 45 might be operated in open circuit voltage (OCV) mode. In such a mode, electric current might still be used as the metric for determining the proportion of hydrogen in the mixture. In OCV mode the electroceramic cell 45 may have a self-generated work potential and a variable resistor can be used to maintain that potential at a fixed level.
It is explained above that electric current is produced, at least in part, from the combination of transported oxide ions with hydrogen molecules at the second electrode 40. The electrical parameter that is sensed by the sensing circuitry 60 is described above as being the electric current itself. However, the electrical parameter that is sensed by the sensing circuitry 60 might be a different electrical parameter, such as a potential difference or an impedance/resistance.
For example, in alternative implementations, the electroceramic cell 45 may respond to the changes in relative concentrations of hydrogen and methane with recourse to the characteristic impedance and frequency-dependant properties of the respective gas quantities and their associated reactions. Here, in these implementations, the electroceramic cell 45 might be operated in an applied potential current mode or an OCV mode. The impedance spectra may be obtained with the plotting of real and imaginary components of the impedance across a frequency range, known as the Nyquist plot. Based on the appropriate deconvolutions and equivalent circuit specification, the mixture proportion may be ascertained by the parameters and properties of the circuit, such as the characteristic charge transfer resistances, capacitances and relaxation time estimations.
Features described in the preceding description may be used in combinations other than the combinations explicitly described above.
Although functions have been described with reference to certain features, those functions may be performable by other features whether described or not.
Although features have been described with reference to certain examples, those features may also be present in other examples whether described or not.
The term ‘a’ or ‘the’ is used in this document with an inclusive not an exclusive meaning. That is any reference to X comprising a/the Y indicates that X may comprise only one Y or may comprise more than one Y unless the context clearly indicates the contrary. If it is intended to use ‘a’ or ‘the’ with an exclusive meaning then it will be made clear in the context. In some circumstances the use of ‘at least one’ or ‘one or more’ may be used to emphasis an inclusive meaning but the absence of these terms should not be taken to infer any exclusive meaning.
The presence of a feature (or combination of features) in a claim is a reference to that feature or (combination of features) itself and also to features that achieve substantially the same technical effect (equivalent features). The equivalent features include, for example, features that are variants and achieve substantially the same result in substantially the same way. The equivalent features include, for example, features that perform substantially the same function, in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result.
In this description, reference has been made to various examples using adjectives or adjectival phrases to describe characteristics of the examples. Such a description of a characteristic in relation to an example indicates that the characteristic is present in some examples exactly as described and is present in other examples substantially as described.
Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features believed to be of importance it should be understood that the applicant may seek protection via the claims in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not emphasis has been placed thereon.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1919005.7 | Dec 2019 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB2020/053253 | 12/16/2020 | WO |
