Quantifying Airborne Hydrogen in Nearly Real Time

An indirect method of measuring small concentrations of hydrogen gas in air in nearly real time has been devised to circumvent the difficulty of performing such measurements directly. In this method, a sample of air suspected of containing hydrogen is first enclosed in a suitable container, and its humidity is measured. The enclosed sample is then exposed to ultraviolet light (typically at a wavelength of 254 nm), which photolyzes the hydrogen to water vapor. The exposure time needed for photolysis is of the order of minutes, the exact value depending on the shape and size of the sample container.