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Research

AQD-NOxWerx is committed to continuous improvement of our products to better meet the needs of our clients. We perform a variety of internally-funded and sponsored research to develop methods to improve the performance of our instrumentation.  Our research philosophy is to follow the arc of Smaller, Faster, Cheaper, but only insomuch as we can achieve better reliability, better serviceability, and performance targeted to the task as the endpoint.  The research example featured below is a highlight from our product pipeline.

 

 

Featured Research

 

The next generation photolytic NO2 converters.

(click for pdf)

 

Our Research Objectives

The objectives we desired to accomplish with the next generation of our photolytic NO2 converter included:

  • Improve the reliability and environmental resistance of the converter seals.
  • Take advantage of the higher efficiency UV LEDs currently available.
  • Ensure backward compatibility with the existing BLC generations.

 

The AQD solution

Our next generation photolytic NO2 converters will be available at several power levels to best suit the application.  The replacement for the latest generation BLC is the BLC2, shown in Figure 1 below.  Salient features of the new system include:

  • The available LED sources allowed us to create a lamp version that is compatible with the existing BLC power sources, and a higher powered device that will allow conversion efficiency of nearly 1.  The other power levels are presented in Figure 2 and Table 1. 
  • All versions are o-ring sealed. 
  • The lamps used with the BLC2 are compatible with the prior BLC generations.

 

The lamp/heat-sink combination used with the DM33 and DM66 converters will be about 50% larger to accommodate the additional power dissipation required.

 

Figure 1.  A 3-D model of the new BLC2.  The BLC2 will be a direct fit replacement for the original BLC, while offering substantially better performance. The dimensions shown are in inches. 

 

 

 

Figure 2.  This graph shows the calculated conversion efficiency (CE) versus residence time for the standard BLC (red), the new BLC2 (green), and the new DM66 (blue).  Each curve is also shown as a function of oxidant level (NO2+O3) from 0-400 ppb.  The performance regions circled represent the available residence times (defined by the cell volume).  The dual-mode (DM) converter may be operated at either atmospheric pressure (high efficiency)or at reduced pressure (high speed).

 

 

 

 

   Research image: A slice through a porous spherical cell showing the pressure gradient under flow.