Effect of environmental temperature and humidity on different metal oxide gas sensors at various gas concentration levels

Metal Oxide (MOX) semiconductor gas sensors have been widely used in monitoring targeted gases that are present in the environment. This type of gas sensor can also be utilized as a safety device to detect the source of gas leakage. Their uses in many applications are due to being user-friendly, lower in cost, high sensitivity and relatively quick response time. However, there are several factors that could affect their performance. This work investigates the effects of the changes in ambient temperature and humidity on the readings of these sensors at various gas concentration levels. A PCB board was developed, which consists of temperature and humidity sensors, as well as eight different MOX gas sensors (TGS2600, TCS2602, CCS803, MiCS552, GM-402B, GM-502B, GM-702B and MiCS6814). The board was subjected to various temperatures (16˚C to 30˚C) and humidity levels (45% to 75%). At each of these parameter settings, the gas sensor responses were recorded at different ethanol gas concentrations. The results of the study showed that the temperature and humidity affected all the gas sensor response. The magnitude of the sensors responses was observed to decrease with rising temperature and humidity levels, except for MICS6814 (NH3 sensor) which responses in the opposite manner. Hence, there is the need to take into consideration of the drift of gas sensors’ responses when there are changes in temperature and humidity.