Researcher develops inexpensive natural gas sensor
A $10 sensor developed by a University of California, Riverside researcher can be used to help breweries—and soon perhaps households—use natural gas more efficiently.
Research Engineer Chan Seung Park developed the sensor, which measures the content of the gas coming into water heaters and other gas-powered devices and adjusts the air flow to optimize energy production by combustion, using “predictive measurement.”
His intriguing concept has won backing—and research dollars—that will allow him to forge ahead with the innovative technology.
In 2017, Park won a $45,000 “Proof of Concept” grant from UCR’s Office of Research and Economic Development to build a prototype of his “smart combustion” device. A year later, he has won a $1.5 million grant from the California Energy Commission to create a device that can reduce natural gas consumption by at least 10 percent in breweries.
The grant gives Park three years to create a sensor that works on steam boilers at Rough Draft Brewing Company in San Diego.
“Currently I have a laboratory prototype, which proves that my idea is working in the laboratory environment. I need to further develop to the ‘working prototype’ in the real environment,” Park told American Gas. “Since the sensor uses an artificial intelligence algorithm, the most important process would be the machine learning from the real environment to improve its prediction accuracy.”
The sensor has promising possibilities beyond breweries, Park said. “It can be used with any equipment that involves natural gas combustion, for example, gas furnace, gas heat pump, fuel cell, natural gas vehicle, natural gas turbine and even for consumer appliances like a gas range,” he said. “Also, it can be used for new gas metering devices that measure gas Btu instead of gas volume.”
The true significance of his work, he said, is the enabling technology for “smart combustion.”
“This optimizes the combustion, based on the fuel quality, in order to provide the fuel saving and emission reduction,” he said.