I-Corps: Accelerated Innovation and Technology Transition in Semiconductor-Based Hydrogen and Hydrocarbon Sensors

I-Corps：加速半导体氢和碳氢化合物传感器的创新和技术转型

• 批准号: 1157919
• 负责人: Lisa Porter
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-10-01 至 2012-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1157919&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Accelerated; Innovation; Technology; Transition

The purpose of the proposed program is to quantify the technical and economic viability of the sensor technology towards commercial deployment of the sensor through strategic partners within the electrochemical and energy markets. The value proposition of this effort is to provide chemical detection in industrial processes at locations where no monitoring previously existed due to the harshness of the operating environment. The effort is centered on the deployment of a novel, robust chemical sensor technology developed by the proposing team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The team has demonstrated the sensitivity of the sensing technology to hydrogen and various hydrocarbons ranging from parts-per-million levels to 20%. This range covers the lower explosive limit of hydrogen and hydrocarbons in an oxidizing environment (typically 4-10%), making this technology a viable candidate for detection of faulty conditions that may lead to explosions in industrial processes. Devices have been operated at elevated temperatures and in the severe environment of wet chlorine without any observed degradation of the device sensitivity. Empowering this commercial endeavor will have the following three overall broader impacts: 1. Prevent explosions, which may endanger lives, damage capital equipment and cause plant down-time; 2. Advance complementary technologies (e.g. electrical contacts, data transmission). These technologies can be subsequently used to deploy other capabilities (e.g. in-situ flow control and feedback) into similar harsh environments; 3. Develop entrepreneurial expertise required for transitional research. This aspect includes the training of a graduate student who will gain valuable experience with innovative and entrepreneurial processes. Chemical monitoring is of prime importance within industrial processes that deal with flammable gases such as hydrogen and hydrocarbons. Oftentimes, chemical monitoring is not available at the point of flammable gas evolution due to corrosive environments or elevated temperatures. Improvements to existing monitoring can be readily achieved by deploying sensors capable of operation at the point of flammable gas evolution. Development of complementary technologies (e.g. electrical contacts, wireless communications in industrial plants) will contribute to the general understanding of device operation in these environments, which will empower deployment of other innovations.

拟议计划的目的是量化传感器技术对传感器的技术和经济可行性，通过电化学和能源市场中的战略合作伙伴对传感器的商业部署。这项工作的价值主张是在由于操作环境的严峻性而在以前不存在监测的位置的工业过程中提供化学检测。这项工作集中在卡内基·梅隆大学（CMU）提议团队开发的新颖，强大的化学传感器技术的工作。该团队已经证明了感应技术对氢的敏感性和各种碳氢化合物的敏感性，范围从零件量到20％。该范围涵盖了在氧化环境中（通常为4-10％），氢气和烃的爆炸性较低，这使得该技术成为发现可能导致工业过程中爆炸的错误条件的可行候选者。设备已在升高的温度和严重的湿氯环境下操作，没有观察到设备敏感性的降解。赋予这项商业努力的能力将产生以下三个更广泛的影响：1。防止爆炸，这可能危害生命，损坏资本设备并导致工厂停机； 2。提前的互补技术（例如电触点，数据传输）。这些技术随后可用于将其他功能（例如原位流控制和反馈）部署到类似的恶劣环境中； 3。发展过渡研究所需的企业家专业知识。这一方面包括对研究生的培训，该研究生将获得创新和企业家流程的宝贵经验。化学监测在处理易燃气体（例如氢气和碳氢化合物）的工业过程中至关重要。通常，由于腐蚀性环境或温度升高，无法在易燃气体演化时获得化学监测。通过在易燃气体演化时部署能够操作的传感器，可以很容易地实现现有监测的改进。互补技术的开发（例如电气接触，工业工厂的无线通信）将有助于对这些环境中的设备操作的一般理解，这将赋予其他创新的部署。