LIMITING CURRENT TYPE OF OXYGEN SENSOR WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE

A limiting current type of oxygen sensor using a zirconia solid electrolyte has been developed and used for many applications. This sensor has some excellent features such as a long life, no reference gases, a compact body and is maintenance free. However, there were some problems to be solved for practical usage. Some improvements have been made in order to realize a high performance oxygen sensor. The main improved items are the response time, vibration resistance, waterproofness and lifetime. Details of improved items and characteristics of this sensor are reported in this paper. As a result, a high performance oxygen sensor that has a fast response time, less than 5 s, a high vibration resistance against ±30 g, a waterproof property and a long lifetime of about 20 000 hours even in high oxygen concentrations such as 90% O2, was realized. © 1990.