Performance of Thick Film NOx Sensor on Diesel and Gasoline Engines

This paper describes a thick film ZrO₂ NOx sensor feasible for diesel and gasoline engine applications, and introduces modification items from the previous concept design.(1)

The modification items comprise simplifying the sensing element design to reduce output terminals for package design and applying temperature control to the sensing element in order to minimize sensor performance dependency on gas temperature.

The NOx sensor indicates a stable linear signal in proportion to NOx concentration in a wide range of temperature, A/F and NOx concentration as a practical condition on both gasoline and diesel engines. The NOx sensor shows a good response in hundred msec. and a sharp signal following NOx generation in a transient state as well.

Besides, another type of a NOx sensor is proposed for low NOx measurement in a practical use, by an electromotive force(EMF) voltage instead of a pumping current.