Corresponding author der OTH Regensburg
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- Photoacoustic spectroscopy (3)
- Acetone breath analysis (2)
- Acetone detection (2)
- High power UV LED (2)
- 3ω-method (1)
- Acetone (1)
- Breath analysis (1)
- Building performance simulation (1)
- CO2 sensor (1)
- Cross-sensitivities (1)
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- Fakultät Angewandte Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften (7) (entfernen)
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- peer-reviewed (7)
Trace gas analysis in breath is challenging due to the vast number of different components. We present a highly sensitive quantum cascade laser based photoacoustic setup for breath analysis. Scanning the range between 8263 and 8270 nm with a spectral resolution of 48 pm, we are able to quantify acetone and ethanol within a typical breath matrix containing water and CO2. We photoacoustically acquired spectra within this region of mid-infra-red light and prove that those spectra do not suffer from non-spectral interferences. The purely additive behavior of a breath sample spectrum was verified by comparing it with the independently acquired single component spectra using Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. A previously presented simulation approach is improved and an error attribution study is presented. With a 3σ detection limit of 6.5 ppbv in terms of ethanol and 250 pptv regarding acetone, our system is among the best performing presented so far.
Improvements for building-performance simulations by a comparative finite-element method analysis
(2023)
This paper presents a method to improve building-performance simulations (BPS) by the comparison and analysis of different approaches based on finite-element method (FEM) models. The lumped parameter method (LPM) is used in several BPS programs and tools. It has the advantage of fast computing times and comparably good accuracy for thermal and energy loads. With the help of detailed FEM simulations, it is possible to further improve the degree of detail and accuracy while maintaining the high simulation speed.
In this work, we compare time-dependent results for local temperatures in a generic reference room within a given periode of time. In a second step, the differences between the models with respect to various physical effects are analyzed and used to introduce additional equations into the LPM model in order to improve its accuracy. Thus, we discuss potentials for improvement for BPS and demonstrate a method of a practical implementation.
The results show minor differences of less than 0.1 K for radiation and heat transfer, so their level of detail in BPS is appropriate. In these terms, no improvements were pursued within the work. However, the FEM simulation is capable of calculating the internal convective heat transfer and thermal bridges more accurately due to the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the geometrically precise representation of the FEM model. Here, deviations of up to 1 K in room temperature (convective heat transfer) and up to 0.5 K in wall temperatures (thermal bridges) were pointed out.
By improving the LPM with equations obtained from the FEM, these deviations can be reduced to less than 0.2 K, which is a considerable improvement in accuracy.
Avoiding ice accumulation on aerodynamic components is of enormous importance to flight safety. Novel approaches utilizing surface dielectric barrier discharges (SDBDs) are expected to be more efficient and effective than conventional solutions for preventing ice accretion on aerodynamic components. In this work, the realization of SDBDs based on thin-film substrates by means of micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) technology is presented. The anti-icing performance of the MEMS SDBDs is presented and compared to SDBDs manufactured by printed circuit board (PCB) technology. It was observed that the 35 mu m thick electrodes of the PCB SDBDs favor surface icing with an initial accumulation of supercooled water droplets at the electrode impact edges. This effect was not observed for 0.3 mu m thick MEMS-fabricated electrodes indicating a clear advantage for MEMS-technology SDBDs for anti-icing applications. Titanium was identified as the most suitable material for MEMS electrodes. In addition, an optimization of the MEMS-SDBDs with respect to the dielectric materials as well as SDBD design is discussed.
A newly-developed solar active thermal insulation system (SATIS) is introduced with the main objective to accomplish a highly-dependent total solar transmittance on the irradiation angle. SATIS is also designed to obtain the maximum transmittance at a prescribed design irradiation angle and to reduce it remarkably at higher irradiation angles. A purely mineral thermal insulation plaster with micro hollow glass spheres is applied to manufacture the investigated SATIS prototype. Light-conducting elements (LCEs) have been introduced into SATIS and suitable closing elements have been applied. The SATIS prototype has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. It turned out that the contributions of conduction, radiation and convection to the effective thermal conductivity of SATIS, without the closing elements (49 mWmK), amount to 86.2%, 13.2% and 0.6%, respectively. The angle-dependent short-wave radiation exchange within the LCE has been investigated via ray tracing. At the incidence angle of 19% (design angle), 27% of the radiation within the LCE is absorbed by the absorber plate, resulting in measured and computed total solar energy transmittances of 11.2%/11.7%, respectively. For a typical summer irradiation angle of 60%, 98% of the incident radiation is absorbed by the surfaces at the entrance of the LCE. The corresponding total solar energy transmittance amounts to 2.9%.
Gas concentration monitoring is essential in industrial or life science areas in order to address safety-relevant or process-related questions. Many of the sensors used in this context are based on the principle of thermal conductivity. The 3ω-method is a very accurate method to determine the thermal properties of materials. It has its origin in the thermal characterization of thin solid films. To date, there have been very few scientific investigations using this method to determine the thermal properties of gases and to apply it to gas measurement technology. In this article, we use two exemplary gases (H2 and CO2) for a systematical investigation of this method in the context of gas analysis. To perform our experiments, we use a robust, reliable sensing element that is already well established in vacuum measurement technology. This helix-shaped thin wire of tungsten exhibits high robustness against chemical and mechanical influences. Our setup features a compact measurement environment, where sensor operation and data acquisition are integrated into a single device. The experimental results show a good agreement with a simplified analytical model and FEM simulations. The sensor exhibits a lower detection limit of 0.62% in the case of CO2, and only 0.062% in case the of H2 at an excitation frequency of 1 Hz. This is one of the lowest values reported in literature for thermal conductivity H2 sensors.
The performance of a photoacoustic trace gas sensor for the detection of acetone in N2 and synthetic air is reported. The sensor system utilises an amplitude modulated UV LED. The light source has an emission maximum at 278 nm and a maximum CW output power of 300 mW according to the datasheet. Three different collimating and focusing approaches have been investigated to guide the highly divergent LED light into the acoustic resonator of the photoacoustic measurement cell. A 3D printed aluminium cell was designed to optimize light coupling by simultaneously minimizing the photoacoustic background signal generation. Hence, the diameter of the resonator was set to a comparable large diameter of 10 mm and the inner walls of the resonator were mirror polished. The additive manufacturing procedure allowed for integration of a spirally formed gas channel, enabling gas heating prior to detection. The sensor performance was investigated by measuring acetone in N2 and synthetic air at different concentrations. The UV LED current was set to 86 % of the maximum value according to the datasheet of the light source in order to increase the lifetime and thermal stability. An Allan-Werle deviation analysis validates a stable sensor performance. The limit of detection (LoD) was determined at a 3σ noise level with a 10 s lock-in amplifier time constant by sampling data points over 20 s with a data acquisition rate of 5 Hz. LoDs of 80.8 ppbV and 19.6 ppbV were obtained for acetone in N2 and synthetic air, respectively.
We present a sensitive UV LED photoacoustic setup for the detection of gaseous acetone and discuss its applicability towards breath analysis. We investigated the performance of the sensor for low acetone concentrations down to 0.1 parts per million (ppmV). The influences of temperature, flow, pressure, optical power and LED duty cycle on the measured signal have been examined. To gain a better understanding of the different effects on the photoacoustic signal, correlation analysis was applied and feature importance was determined using a large measured dataset. Furthermore, the cross-sensitivities towards O2, CO2 and H2O have been studied extensively. Finally, the sensor’s performance to detect acetone between 0.1–1 ppmV within gas mixtures simulating breath exhale conditions has been investigated, too. With a limit of detection (LoD) of 12.5 parts per billion (ppbV) (3σ) measured under typical breath exhale gas mixture conditions, the sensor demonstrated a high potential for the application of acetone detection in human breath analysis.