Thermal Balance Analysis of a Micro-Thermoelectric Gas Sensor Using Catalytic Combustion of Hydrogen

A thermoelectric gas sensor (TGS) with a combustion catalyst is a calorimetric sensor that changes the small heat of catalytic combustion into a signal voltage. We analyzed the thermal balance of a TGS to quantitatively estimate the sensor parameters. The voltage signal of a TGS was simulated, and the heat balance was calculated at two sections across the thermoelectric film of a TGS. The thermal resistances in the two sections were estimated from the thermal time constants of the experimental signal curves of the TGS. The catalytic combustion heat Q(catalyst) required for 1 mV of ∆V(gas) was calculated to be 46.1 μW. Using these parameters, we find from simulations for the device performance that the expected Q(catalyst) for 200 and 1,000 ppm H₂ was 3.69 μW and 11.7 μW, respectively.