At a Glance

There is growing interest internationally

on the effect of indoor air pollution on
respiratory and cardiovascular health.
This was recognized in the recent EUWHO Parma Declaration on
Environment and Health (2010)
which identifies improving indoor air
quality as one of its key goals.
In a drive to reduce the energy input
required to maintain comfortable indoor
environments, building standards are
demanding ever tighter control of
unplanned or unmanaged, wasteful
ventilation. Ventilation is the process of
replacing stale, CO2 laden air with clean
fresh air (high in O2 content from a clean
outdoor ambient source). In winter this
also means replacing warm air with cold
and vice versa in summer. Replacement
of this stale air is an energy costly
process; hence, many systems are being
deployed to sensibly manage ventilation
and recover as much energy as possible.
But the ultimate solution is for a smartsensor based system capable of
monitoring temperature, humidity and
CO2 levels which intelligently adjusts
airflows as required. These smart
Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV)
systems offer substantial savings in
building heating and cooling costs.
Today deployment of DCV is mostly
limited to large or commercial buildings
primarily because CO2 sensors costing
50 each (just for the sensor function)
are prohibitively expensive. This project
has developed a prototype CO2 sensor
based on low-cost metal oxide gas
sensitive materials. By combining state
of the art nanotechnology and gassensitive metal-oxide materials with
semiconductor manufacturing,
ChipSensors has produced a low power,
low cost sensor to meet this mass
market demand.

2008-CP-3-S2
Low Cost, Battery Powered, CO2 and
Toxic Gas Detection System

ChipSensors Limited,
Block 2 International Business Centre,
Plassey Technology Park,
Limerick, Ireland.
ChipSensors is an early stage SME
headquartered on the campus of the
University of Limerick, co-funded by
Venture Capital investors, Enterprise
Ireland as well as commercial
consultancy and grant assisted research
from the EPA. ChipSensors has an
experienced management and
technology team with extensive
materials science and mixed-signal
silicon design expertise. The company
has leveraged these capabilities to
develop novel sensor technology that
addresses a wide range of target
markets such as thermostats,
automotive climate control, printers,
wireless sensor networks, security
systems, gas leak detectors, white
goods, and food and drug
transportation.
Historically, sensors have been
manufactured using specialized
materials and manufacturing processes
that demand external support circuitry
and post-assembly calibration.
ChipSensors proprietary technology
can enable the sensors to be integrated
and calibrated in a single CMOS IC.
These highly integrated devices provide
a cost-effective solution to precision
sensing for high-volume applications.

Aim of this project

The projects aim was to build a
prototype CO2 sensor that meets
emerging market performance
requirements for indoor air quality
monitoring applications, but is also
compatible with low-cost, high-volume
semiconductor manufacturing. The
table below compares the newly
developed Metal Oxide Semiconductor
(MOS) CO2 sensor with existing optical
(NDIR) technology.

Project Description
The aim of this project was the design
and development of a CO2 sensor
system based on proprietary metal
oxide materials. Prototype sensors were
built and the performance was
characterised. Results show that the
technology is very suitable to CO2
sensing for indoor air quality, with
further applications for direct gas
sensing in combustion exhaust systems.
The project consisted of the following
phases:
1.

2.

Literature survey:
Investigating suitable candidate
materials and sensor requirements
Materials Development:
Investigating metal oxides with
potential to detect CO2

3.

4.

5.

Lab Test Rig:

Developing a lab-based test rig to
analyse and characterise sensor
performance
NOx sensor for Combustion
Emissions:
In addition to CO2 a derivative
material was examined, which
exhibits very promising results for
NOx (NO & NO2) detection. NOx
gases are produced by petrol and
diesel engines.
Generic Gas Controller PCB:
Developing a generic
microcontroller based PCB to
interface to our MOS gas sensors.

Outcomes
Fig 1a and b show a 2mm by 2mm
sensor mounted in a thermally
isolated plastic housing.

The Cleaner Greener Production

Programme (CGPP) of the EPA is funded
under the National Development Plan 20072013. The CGPP was launched in 2001 as a
grant scheme to fund Irish organisations to
implement cleaner greener practices while
achieving significant cost savings.

Fig 2: Generic Microcontroller PCB

with CO2 gas sensor
Shortly after the completion of this
project ChipSensors Ltd was acquired
by a US multinational Silicon
Laboratories Inc. of Austin, Texas in
October 2010. Silicon Laboratories
are fully committed to further
investment in R&D and to
commercialising this gas sensor
technology.

Lessons Learned

Fig 1a: Side on view of sensor

The primary outcome from this

project is the knowhow in the
development of novel metal oxide
materials which can be used to sense
CO2 and NOx gases. Much has been
learned about these new materials;
the gas response, the influence of
humidity, packaging and control
algorithms.

More Information
For more information on this project
please contact:
Fig 1b: Plan view of sensor
Fig 2 is a photograph of the gas
sensor microcontroller board with a
CO2 sensor in the bottom right corner.
This board can accommodate a range
of different MOS gas sensors by
appropriate jumper and software
settings.

Ray Speer
Silicon Laboratories;
Block 2, International Science Centre,
Plassey Technology Park,
Limerick, Ireland.
Email: ray.speer@silabs.com
Limerick Office: +353 (0)61 635732
Cell Phone: +353 (0)87 2837491

Cleaner Greener Production is the

application of integrated preventive
environmental strategies to processes,
products and services to increase overall
efficiency and reduce risks to humans and
the environment.
Production processes: conserving
raw materials and energy, eliminating
toxic raw materials, and reducing
the quantity and toxicity of all
emissions and wastes
Products: reducing negative
impacts along the life cycle of a
product, from raw materials
extraction to its ultimate disposal.
Services: incorporating
environmental concerns into designing
and delivering services.
The programme aims are focussed on
avoiding and preventing adverse
environmental impact rather than treating
or cleaning up afterwards. This approach
brings better economic and
environmental efficiency.

This case study report is one of the reports

available from the companies that
participated in the fourth phase of the
Cleaner Greener Production Programme
(CGPP4), which is funded by the EPA STRIVE
and NWPP programmes. A summary of all
the projects containing all the reports are
also available.
More information on the programme is
available from the EPA:
Lisa Sheils,
Environmental Protection Agency,
Richview, Clonskeagh,
Dublin 14, Ireland
Tel:+353 (0)1-2680100
http://www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/research