Ammonia NH₃

Ammonia is commonly used in the agricultural industry as a fertilizer to help increase crop yield. Ammonia emissions are also a byproduct of animal waste in livestock and poultry applications. Some manufacturing processes use ammonia, such as in the production of plastics, textiles, and pesticides, as well as in the fermentation industry and as an antimicrobial agent. It is also found in many household and industrial strength cleaning products.

Ammonia is a toxic gas that can cause burning in the respiratory tract when inhaled. Those most at risk of excess inhalation are workers whose industries use ammonia.

Aeroqual offers two different sensor types for ammonia measurement in our sensor head range: the Gas Sensitive Semiconductor (GSS) sensor and the Gas Sensitive Electrochemical (GSE) sensor.

The GSE sensor head incorporates an electrochemical gas sensor. This sensor generates an electrical current in nA, which is proportional to the concentration of NH₃ that comes in contact with the sensor. The sensor current is converted to a voltage and this voltage is used to calculate NH₃ concentration.

The GSS sensor head incorporates a semiconducting gas sensor, which is manufactured by Aeroqual. The sensing layer is a p-type semiconductor whose resistance increases when NH₃ gas is present. The change in sensor resistance is used to calculate NH₃ concentrations.

The table below contains the ammonia sensor head specifications. These can be used on our Ranger, S Series and Series 900 products. Both ranges are designed for industrial health and safety.

Although the GSE sensor in the ammonia sensor head is designed to measure NH₃, it does show cross-interferences to other gases. The table below shows the response in ppm of the NH₃ GSE sensor heads to different gases.