Project Code: APM-Gas-Detection (EC)-2012 ADI Gas Detector Solution Based on NDIR and PID Application Introduction This is the second article on gas detectors from ADI, which contains the NDIR (non-dispersive infrared) gas detector solution and the PID (photoionization) gas detector solution. The first article describes a micro-power toxic gas detector based on an electrochemical sensor (see Design Resources at end of this article for additional information). The NDIR sensor is based on absorption spectroscopy theory—a specific gas absorbs a specific wavelength in the infrared (IR) spectrum, and the gas concentration is proportional to the amount of IR light absorbed. The advantages of an NDIR detector are high sensitivity, long operating life, reduced maintenance, safety, and reliability. The main disadvantage of NDIR is its high price. NDIR gas detectors are commonly employed in the detection of methane and carbon dioxide, which can be used in applications for the mining, agriculture, oil, and chemical industries. The PID sensor is mainly made up of ultraviolet (UV) light and an ion chamber. UV light excites gas molecules resulting in electrons and ions that produce current relating to the gas concentration in the ion chamber. The advantages of PID gas detectors are high sensitivity, fast response, high accuracy, safety, and reliability. However, the cost of PID detectors is also high and the selectivity of PID detectors is not good. Thus, PID gas detectors are commonly employed in the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC) like aromatics, ketones, and aldehydes. These applications are suitable in the chemical industry, oil and gas, and airlines. System Design Considerations Reliability Accuracy, interference immunity, and good long-term stability are important factors during NDIR and PID detector design. To achieve this object, low drift and an accurate signal chain are needed for a reliable gas detector. Resolution To take full advantage of sensor dynamic range, the low noise and high resolution should be taken into consideration during signal chain and power design both for NDIR and PID detectors. NDIR Solution from ADI Below is the system block diagram of an NDIR gas detector, including NDIR sensor, band-pass filter, microcontroller (ADC integrated), power management, and communication interface. 5. POWER MANAGEMENT Hz LEVEL DC-TO-DC ACTIVE PYRO 6. INTERFACE 1. AMP NDIR SENSOR LAMP DRIVE 4. REF LDO 2. ADC BAND-PASS FILTER REF PYRO 1. AMP 3. MICROCONTROLLER BATTERY BAND-PASS FILTER 4mA-TO-20mA RS-485 ALARM UNIT LCD/KEY T Note: The signal chains above are representative of the system block diagram of a toxic gas detector design. The technical requirements of the blocks vary, but the products listed in the table below are representative of ADI's solutions that meet some of those requirements. instrumentation.analog.com 1. Amplifier 2. ADC 3. Microcontroller 4. Reference 5. Power Management 6. Interface AD8629/ ADA4528-1 AD7798 ADuCM361 ADR423/ ADR4533 ADP2503/ ADP2370/ ADP160 AD5420/ ADM2483/ AD5749 The NDIR gas sensor contains a lamp, which is driven at low frequency by a lamp drive circuit. The small pyro (pyroelectric sensor) output signals are approximately sawtooth in shape and must be amplified and filtered. A band-pass amplifier is applied to pass only the fundamental frequency and reduce noise at other frequencies. The amplifier outputs are roughly sinusoidal in shape. The ADC gets the amplitude of active and reference channels whose ratio is related to the gas concentration. Reliability: ADI is committed to providing accurate and low drift signal chain products like zero-drift amplifiers, low noise and drift references, and highly accurate ADCs, all of which help designers build an accurate and stable system. The ADC could be independent or integrated with the MCU depending on the detailed application. Resolution: Since the output voltage of an NDIR sensor is a level of mV, the noise at the input stage of signal condition should be around 1 µV to achieve 0.1% resolution. The common bandwidth of the signal chain is less than 10 Hz, so the 1/f noise (0.1 Hz to 10 Hz) from the amplifier dominates. The ADI zerodrift amplifier with ultralow 1/f noise can help the designer achieve high resolution. PID Solution from ADI Below is the system block diagram of the PID gas detector, including PID sensor, transimpedance amplifier (TIA), low-pass filter, microcontroller (with integrated ADC), power management, and communication interface. TRANSIMPEDANCE AMPLIFIER 6. POWER MANAGEMENT DC-TO-DC 7. INTERFACE LDO PID SENSOR 1. TIA 3. ADC 2. AMP LAMP DRIVE ~100 KHz/1000 V 4. MICROCONTROLLER BATTERY LOW-PASS AND GAIN 4mA-TO-20mA RS-485 ALARM UNIT LCD/KEY HIGH DC > 200 V 5. REF 1.TIA 2. Amplifier 3. ADC 4. Microcontroller 5. Reference 6. Power Management 7. Interface AD549/ AD8605 ADA4528-1/ AD8629 AD7190 ADuCM361 ADR423/ ADR4533 ADP2503/ ADP160/ ADP2370 AD5420/ ADM2483/ AD5749 The PID gas sensor contains an ultraviolet (UV) lamp, which is pulsed at about 100 kHz frequency by a lamp drive circuit. Ionization occurs when a molecule absorbs high energy UV light and ionizes in electrons and ions. The high voltage across the ionization chamber forces a weak current flowing through the transimpedance amplifier to transfer to voltage. After going through the low-pass filter with gain, the voltage signal goes to the 24-bit sigma-delta ADC. Reliability: Similar to NDIR system, the ultralow bias current of the TIA, low drift of the zero-drift amplifier, and the high performance ADC can benefit the designer with an accurate and stable signal chain. Resolution: The ADI TIA not only offers ultralow bias current but also ultralow current noise. With a 24-bit sigma-delta ADC integrated with MCU, the designer can implement a PID system with very high resolution. An independent ADC should be considered if the designer needs more resolution. 2 | ADI Gas Detector Solution based on NDIR and PID Main Products Part Number Description Benefits Amplifier ADA4528-1 Zero drift 15 nV/°C @ max, ultralow noise 97 nV p-p @ 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz Zero drift and low noise contribute to a very accurate system AD8629 Zero drift 20 nV/°C @ max, very low noise 0.5 µV p-p @ 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz, dual in one package Zero drift and low noise contribute to a very accurate system, dual in one package helps channel consistency AD549 Ultralow bias current 60 fA @ max, ultralow current noise 0.16 fA/√Hz High reputation in precision TIA measurement AD8605 Low bias current 1 pA @ max, low current noise 10 fA/√Hz Low cost for TIA measurement AD7798 140 µA @ max quiescent current, up to 470 Hz output update rate, 3-channel 16-bit peakto-peak resolution at any output data rate Low power Σ-Δ ADC, high resolution and high accuracy AD7190 24-bit Σ-Δ ADC, 23-bit peak-to-peak resolution @ max, programmable output data rate from 4.7 Hz to 4.8 kHz, 2 differential inputs or 4 pseudo-differential inputs Very high resolution and very high accuracy ADR423 3 V reference, very low drift: 3 ppm/°C (max), low noise: 2 µV p-p @ 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz, long time stability: 50 ppm/√1000 hr Low drift, good stability and low noise reference, many other choices for output voltage in ADR42x family ADR4533 3.3 V reference, very low drift: 2 ppm/°C (max), low noise: 2.1 µV p-p @ 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz, long time stability: 25 ppm/√1000 hr Low drift, very good stability and low noise reference, many other choices for output voltage in ADR45xx family TIA ADC Reference Microcontroller ADuCM361 Precision analog microcontrollers, ARM Cortex™-M3 32-bit processor, 6 differential channels, single (24-bit) ADCs, single 12-bit DAC, power consumption 1.0 mA, 290 µA/MHz, 19-pin Low power consumption, ultrahigh precision 24-bit Σ-Δ ADC GPIO, 128 kbytes Flash/EE memory, 8 kbytes SRAM Power Management ADP2503 38 µA quiescent current; 2.5 MHz buck-boost dc-to-dc converters, has ability to operate at Low power consumption to achieve long battery life, small package and few external parts reduce PCB space. input voltages greater than, less than, or equal to the regulated output voltage ADP2370 3.0 V to 15 V input , 800 mA, 1.2 MHz or 600 K PWM frequency, low quiescent current 14 µA, high efficiency larger than 90%, current-mode control architecture Small 3 mm × 3 mm LFCSP package, few peripheral components, and small solution size ADP160 2.2 V to 5.5 V input, 150 mA maximum output current, 1% initial accuracy, up to 15 fixedoutput voltage options available from 1.2 V to 4.2 V; low quiescent current: 42 µA Low power consumption, integrated output discharge resistor, small package with only two 1 µF external capacitor AD5420 16-bit resolution; current output ranges: 0 mA to 24 mA, 0.01% FSR typical total unadjusted error; 3 ppm/°C typical output drift; on-chip reference (10 ppm/°C maximum) 16-bit resolution and monotonicity, supports HART communication ADM2483 Half-duplex, 500 Kbps data rate, 5 V or 3 V operations, low power operation: 2.5 mA max, 2.5 kV isolation Low power operation and competitive price AD5749 4 mA to 20 mA driver, current output ranges: 0 mA to 24 mA or 4 mA to 20 mA, 0.03% FSR Low cost, precision 4 mA to 20 mA driver typical total unadjusted error (TUE), 5 ppm/°C typical output drift Interface instrumentation.analog.com | 3 Design Resources Design Tools/Forums • ADuCM361 Design Tools: —ftp.analog.com/pub/MicroConverter • Analog Filter Wizard™: ADI Active Filter Design Tool —www.analog.com/AnalogFilterWizard • ADIsimPower™: ADI Voltage Regulator Design Tool—www.analog.com/adisimpower • ADIsimOpAmp™: ADI OpAmp Design Tool—www.analog.com/adisimopamp • EngineerZone®: Online Technical Support Community—ez.analog.com Reference • ADI Micropower Toxic Gas Detector Solutions Based on Electrochemical Sensors— www.analog.com/ECGasDetector To View Additional Signal Generator Resources, Tools, and Product Information, Please Visit instrumentation.analog.com Customer Interaction Center Technical Hotline 1-800-419-0108 (India) Analog Devices China Asia Pacific Headquarters 22/F One Corporate Ave. 222 Hu Bin Road Shanghai, 200021 China Tel: 86.21.2320.8000 Fax: 86.21.2320.8222 1-800-225-5234 (Singapore) 0800-055-085 (Taiwan) 82-31-786-2500 (Korea) Email [email protected] EngineerZone ez.analog.com Free Sample www.analog.com/sample Analog Devices, Inc. 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