By Panasonic Corporation has developed an ultrasonic gas flow and concentration sensor for hydrogen that enables the real-time simultaneous measurement of the flow rate and concentration of hydrogen under a highly humid environment for the first time in the industry1.
In recent years, with growing interest in hydrogen as the next generation energy, actions aimed at utilizing hydrogen energy are actively being promoted around the world. With the aim of further spreading and expanding fuel cells that generate electricity through the chemical reaction of hydrogen, the research and evaluation of stack units used as key components are becoming increasingly important.
However, it is difficult for fuel cells to cause a full reaction of all of supplied hydrogen, and the unreacted hydrogen is exposed to high temperature and very humid conditions because of heat and water produced through the chemical reaction. In order to increase the efficiency of stack unit evaluation and the utilization ratio of hydrogen, it is effective to collect and recycle unreacted hydrogen.
However, there is a problem whereby it is difficult for the conventional thermal flow rate sensor and concentration sensor to accurately measure the unreacted hydrogen because the sensor has poor performance under humid conditions.
This time, Panasonic has developed a technology that enables the simultaneous measurement of the flow rate and concentration of hydrogen under a highly humid environment by making use of its ultrasonic gas measurement technology through the development of gas meter devices, and the knowledge as a leader in household fuel cells.
This technology is incorporated into the ultrasonic gas sensor for measuring the flow rate and concentration of hydrogen under a highly humid environment. The use of this sensor for both research and evaluation purposes is expected to accelerate the development of hydrogen energy-related technologies.
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