Cleaner air
Nanosized soot particles are a serious health hazard in urban environments and vehicle emissions are responsible for a considerable amount of those particles. To reduce particle emissions from vehicles, an innovative soot sensor is being developed in the project SootSens.
The soot sensor has been developed for control of soot particles after the particulate filter in diesel exhaust systems. The innovative sensor is based on thermophoresis, that is, a cold sensor surface, which increases the sensitivity due to enhanced soot deposition on the sensor surface.
Commercial potential
The SootSens project is part of the MINT II programme, initiated by Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe), in cooperation with NMT ERA Net in 2007. The programme aspires to boost Nordic micro- and nanotechnology solutions on a European rank. Common for the projects involved is that they demonstrate considerable impact on contemporary life and prove good potential for commercial success. You can read more about MINT II here.
Transnational cooperation in practice
- The project is a good example where NICe is co-financing a project together with other national funding agencies, says Senior Advisor in Nordic Innovation Centre, Sigridur Thormodsdottir.
- This is transnational cooperation in practice, she says. Commercialisation of nano micro technology was at the core of the call. In this project an active participation from industry partners have been essential.
The development was made possible due to the combined competences from three universities, one research institute, two spin off companies, Volvo and Selmic Oy located in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Romania. Volvo provides the necessary testing in diesel exhausts and the requirements of the soot sensor and Selmic Oy has processed the soot devices.
Serious health hazard
Nanosized soot particles are a serious health hazard in urban air. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and due to their fat solubility it can accumulate in other organs such as the brain. Legislation has therefore continuously reduced the allowable emission levels and raised requirements for reporting the status of the exhaust system (OBD, on board diagnostics) in diesel powered vehicles.
SootSens continues
In the recently approved one year project, SootSens II, the partners will quantify and improve the thermophoresis effect and optimize and calibrate the sensitivity of the soot sensor. It is the goal of the consortium to show proof-of-concept.
SootSens in brief
In the project SootSens, eight partners have combined their efforts to develop a sensor based on thermophoresis (patent filed) to enhance soot deposition on the sensor. Thermophoresis is a force acting on particles located in a temperature gradient, such that a sensor held at lower temperatures than the exhaust gas will obtain enhanced deposition of submicron particles. The scientific knowledge around the thermophoresis concept belongs to the aerosol technology area at Lund university.
Sensors with finger electrodes and a heater for burn-off of collected soot have been developed by Linköping University, Mandalon Technologies and SenSiC AB in Sweden. They were fabricated by Selmic Oy in Finland.
Thermal simulations by SINTEF in Norway initiated the construction of a sealed metal tube around the sensor rod (patent filed), which drained heat from the sensor surface allowing a temperature gradient of 50-100C with respect to the exhaust gas temperature. This sensor layout showed preliminary good results in test runs in diesel exhausts at Volvo Technology Corporation and Volvo Car Corporation. The testing at Volvo was performed together with Linköping University.
An aerosol based soot generation system was constructed by Lund University which generates controlled soot atmosphere possible to use for testing and calibration of soot sensors in the lab. University of Iasi in Romania has provided sensing layers for the soot sensor.
Click here to download the report
Contact person: Anita Lloyd Spetz, Professor Linköping University, Sweden: Phone:+46 13 281710, e-mail: spetz@ifm.liu.se
Relaterte prosjekter og rapporter: (1)The soot sensor has been developed for control of soot particles after the particulate filter in diesel exhaust systems. The innovative sensor is based on thermophoresis, that is, a cold sensor surface, which increases the sensitivity due to enhanced soot deposition on the sensor surface.
Commercial potential
The SootSens project is part of the MINT II programme, initiated by Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe), in cooperation with NMT ERA Net in 2007. The programme aspires to boost Nordic micro- and nanotechnology solutions on a European rank. Common for the projects involved is that they demonstrate considerable impact on contemporary life and prove good potential for commercial success. You can read more about MINT II here.
Transnational cooperation in practice
- The project is a good example where NICe is co-financing a project together with other national funding agencies, says Senior Advisor in Nordic Innovation Centre, Sigridur Thormodsdottir.
- This is transnational cooperation in practice, she says. Commercialisation of nano micro technology was at the core of the call. In this project an active participation from industry partners have been essential.
The development was made possible due to the combined competences from three universities, one research institute, two spin off companies, Volvo and Selmic Oy located in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Romania. Volvo provides the necessary testing in diesel exhausts and the requirements of the soot sensor and Selmic Oy has processed the soot devices.
Serious health hazard
Nanosized soot particles are a serious health hazard in urban air. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and due to their fat solubility it can accumulate in other organs such as the brain. Legislation has therefore continuously reduced the allowable emission levels and raised requirements for reporting the status of the exhaust system (OBD, on board diagnostics) in diesel powered vehicles.
SootSens continues
In the recently approved one year project, SootSens II, the partners will quantify and improve the thermophoresis effect and optimize and calibrate the sensitivity of the soot sensor. It is the goal of the consortium to show proof-of-concept.
SootSens in brief
In the project SootSens, eight partners have combined their efforts to develop a sensor based on thermophoresis (patent filed) to enhance soot deposition on the sensor. Thermophoresis is a force acting on particles located in a temperature gradient, such that a sensor held at lower temperatures than the exhaust gas will obtain enhanced deposition of submicron particles. The scientific knowledge around the thermophoresis concept belongs to the aerosol technology area at Lund university.
Sensors with finger electrodes and a heater for burn-off of collected soot have been developed by Linköping University, Mandalon Technologies and SenSiC AB in Sweden. They were fabricated by Selmic Oy in Finland.
Thermal simulations by SINTEF in Norway initiated the construction of a sealed metal tube around the sensor rod (patent filed), which drained heat from the sensor surface allowing a temperature gradient of 50-100C with respect to the exhaust gas temperature. This sensor layout showed preliminary good results in test runs in diesel exhausts at Volvo Technology Corporation and Volvo Car Corporation. The testing at Volvo was performed together with Linköping University.
An aerosol based soot generation system was constructed by Lund University which generates controlled soot atmosphere possible to use for testing and calibration of soot sensors in the lab. University of Iasi in Romania has provided sensing layers for the soot sensor.
Click here to download the report
Contact person: Anita Lloyd Spetz, Professor Linköping University, Sweden: Phone:+46 13 281710, e-mail: spetz@ifm.liu.se
Soot sensors for a healthy environment (SootSens I)
Printervennlig versjon
