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To realize an actual in-situ Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) sensor system for measurements in an exhaust pipe of a combustion engine, suitable components for such an application were chosen, integrated in a first prototype and tested. Key components for the proposed LII system are a super-compact high-power DPSS laser (CTR HiPoLas®) as excitation source, fast KETEK silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) as detectors and a specially designed optical measurement setup. Using a defined aerosol from a soot generator (Jing 5201 miniCAST), signals were collected at different laser energies and soot concentrations. By comparing the recorded behaviour with the literature, the incandescence effect could be reliably identified as the true source of the signal. Further long-term tests at an AVL engine testbed were performed.

Mobile measurement of particle number concentration (PN) in the exhaust of motor vehicles has recently become an integral part of emission legislation. Charge-based sensing techniques for the examination of PN, like Diffusion Charging (DC), represent a promising alternative to condensational particle counters (CPCs) as established PN sensors, because they enable to build robust, compact and energy efficient systems. However, due to the charging process, particle properties like size and morphology have a big impact on the sensor’s PN response. For particles of different size and shape we experimentally investigated those impacts using own-built charging-based sensors. The PN response of the DC sensor showed desired behavior for compact NaCl particles, but less satisfying behavior for combustion aerosol standard (CAST) particles, which is a widely used test aerosol for automotive applications. With a photoelectric charger, the PN response of CAST particles was significantly better.

We characterize a novel micro-sensor with pairs of interdigitated combs of microelectrodes designed to detect particles in air. We evaluate the sensor’s response to 1 µm Polystyrene Latex (PSL) particles experimentally and crosscheck the results with simulations. Experiment and simulation show good consistency. Based on the promising results we propose a redesign of the capacitive particle sensor with respect to PM2.5.

With the application of a recently developed deposition method called initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD), remarkably fast responsive hydrogel thin films in the order of a few hundred nanometers were created. When in contact with humid air, the hydrogel layer extends its thickness manifold, which can be detected. The verification of the thickness change was realized interferometrically with a laser and a white light input source in two different implementations. The setup was designed without electric components in the vicinity of the active sensor layer and is therefore applicable in harsh and explosive environment. The achieved response time for an abrupt change of the humidity τ63 ≤ 2.5 s is about three times lower compared to one of the fastest commercially available sensors on the market.

We present a low cost Particle Number (PN) diluter including mass flow monitoring. The device consists of a commercial hypodermic needle, a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. and a custom-made flow sensor. The flow sensor is used to monitor the diluter’s performance and enable in-time replacement of the low cost elements used. Neither the sampling flow rate nor the pressure drop drastically change the dilution factor introduced by the presented device. This makes the presented device especially useful for particle number measurements at positions close to the tailpipe of internal combustion engine powered vehicles, where aggravating, fast pressure pulsations complicate correct sampling.

A gas diluter based on critical orifices was built and evaluated. The gas diluter is capable of creating dilution ratios of 1:1400 at a total flow of 6.5 L/min. An extended uncertainty analysis of gas concentrations and dilution ratios according to the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement was conducted. A gas cylinder of 5.16 ppm NO2 with a relative uncertainty of 1.5% (k = 1) can be diluted down to a concentration of 3.69 ppb NO2 (dilution ratio of 1:1400) at an uncertainty of 1.9% (k = 1). The results are in good agreement with reference NO2 measurements, conducted with a chemiluminescence detector (CLD, European reference method EN14211; 2005).

In order to design an imaging unit of a novel holographic particle counter an aerosol particle model was developed to generate a virtual hologram plane of an aerosol volume of interest. The herein presented model combines the three essential components to help dimensioning a target detection unit: (i) an In-Line holography model with a reference light source and a basic transfer function of an imager to take into account imager size, pixel pitch and exposure time; (ii) an aerosol particle model with particles of variable count, size and spatial distribution; and (iii) the possibility to import fluid dynamics simulation data to simulate the particle flow in an arbitrary sampling volume.

The rising effort to track local air pollution measurements require low-cost air quality sensors that provide good accuracy, long-term stability and possibly Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. To provide such a solution and avoid cost-intensive equipment the development of a low-cost environmental sensor system was started. To measure the pollutant NO2, a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) setup was established. A pulsed 450 nm laser diode excites NO2 molecules due to its strong absorption at this wavelength and causes a vibrational-translational relaxation, which results in an acoustic wave. The acoustic wave is detected by a quartz tuning fork (QTF) which generates a weak electrical signal proportional to the NO2 concentration. To realize this at low cost, a laser driver and an analysis circuit including a lock-in amplifier and analog-to-digital conversion were developed. We present first results, which proof the functionality of the circuitry compared to a more expensive laboratory setup.