Precision and Limits of Detection for Selected Commercially Available, Low-Cost Carbon Dioxide and Methane Gas Sensors

Abstract

The performance of a sensor platform for environmental or industrial monitoring is sensitive to the cost and performance of the individual sensor elements. Thus, the detection limits, accuracy, and precision of commercially available, low-cost carbon dioxide and methane gas concentration sensors were evaluated by precise measurements at known gas concentrations. Sensors were selected based on market availability, cost, power consumption, detection range, and accuracy. A specially constructed gas mixing chamber, coupled to a precision bench-top analyzer, was used to characterize each sensor during a controlled exposure to known gas concentrations. For environmental monitoring, the selected carbon dioxide sensors were characterized around 400 ppm. For methane, the sensor response was first monitored at 0 ppm, close to the typical environmental background. The selected sensors were then evaluated at gas concentrations of several thousand ppm. The determined detection limits accuracy, and precision provides a set of matrices that can be used to evaluate and select sensors for integration into a sensor platform for specific applications.

Assessment of the applicability of a low-cost sensor–based methane monitoring system for continuous multi-channel sampling

“…The typical detection range of the sensor is 500–10,000 ppm, the circuit voltage of the sensor is 5 V, and the sensing material of the sensor is SnO 2 . Suitability of sensor-based atmospheric methane monitoring was previously evaluated (Eugster & Kling, 2012 ; van den Bossche et al, 2016 ; Honeycutt et al, 2019 ).…”

“…However, low-cost sensors have several limitations when it comes to the application. The main drawbacks of low-cost methane sensors are that their low accuracy, limited measurement range, sensor-to-sensor variability, and durability (Honeycutt et al, 2019 ). In addition, it is known that these sensors’ accuracy depends on environmental parameters such as air temperature and humidity (Eugster & Kling, 2012 ).…”

“…The objective of the present study was to develop a low-cost continuous methane monitoring system and minimize limitations of low-cost sensors by combining two low-cost methane sensors to measure multiple samples from different sources. The developed system was consisted with TGS 2611 and MQ4 sensors that have been evaluated for accuracy and reliability under laboratory conditions independently (Eugster & Kling, 2012 ; van den Bossche et al, 2016 ; Honeycutt et al, 2019 ). In addition, we combined temperature and humidity sensor to study the effect of air temperature and the humidity of the sample on methane measurement.…”

Internet of Things and Enhanced Living Environments: Measuring and Mapping Air Quality Using Cyber-physical Systems and Mobile Computing Technologies

“…Nowadays, CO 2 sensors are reliable, accurate and maintenance-free [112]. CO 2 sensors can be used to provide an efficient and practical association between combustion-related emissions and outdoor air quality conditions.…”

A Low-Cost NDIR-Based N2O Gas Detection Device for Agricultural Soils: Assembly, Calibration Model Validation, and Laboratory Testing

“…NDIR technology has widely adopted for gas measurements, mostly for CO 2 and CH 4 detection. The comparison in performance of low-cost and commercially available NDIR CO 2 sensors have been revealed in some research, and possible modifications with accuracy improvement are also assessed [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. In the structural development, NDIR gas sensors have been modified to a broad range of specific gas monitoring applications in agricultural activities [ 19 , 20 ], occupational settings [ 21 , 22 ] and the transportation sector [ 23 ].…”