A micromachined thermoelectric sensor for natural gas analysis: Thermal model and experimental results

Author

Carles, G. ; Udina, S. ; Salleras, M. ; Santander, J. ; Fonseca, L. ; Marco, S.

Author_Institution

Dept. d´´Electron., Univ. de Barcelona, Barcelona

fYear

2007

fDate

16-18 April 2007

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

In this work, the potential use of a micromachined thermopile based device for analyzing natural gas is explored. Device´s response is studied to attain the final goal of detecting variations in natural gas composition through the variation of its thermal conductivity. A FEM thermal model of the device is developed and used to simulate its thermal operation and estimate its sensitivity. Different responses have been recorded experimentally and compared with those obtained from the model developed, showing a good agreement. Results show that small variations in the gas mixture composition can be clearly detected.

Keywords

chemical analysis; chemical sensors; electric sensing devices; microsensors; thermal analysis; thermal conductivity; FEM thermal model; micromachined thermoelectric sensor; natural gas analysis; thermal conductivity; Biomembranes; Conducting materials; Gas detectors; Maintenance; Natural gas; Silicon; Temperature sensors; Thermal conductivity; Thermal sensors; Thermoelectricity;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation Experiments in Microelectronics and Micro-Systems, 2007. EuroSime 2007. International Conference on

Conference_Location

London

Print_ISBN

1-4244-1105-X

Electronic_ISBN

1-4244-1106-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ESIME.2007.360043

Filename

4201210