Atmospheric Sensors Limited (ASL)
Atmospheric Sensors Ltd. (ASL) exploits a digital approach to gas sensor management that allows the aggregation of a range of sensing technologies to achieve enhanced reliability, sensitivity and selectivity in potentially hazardous circumstances.
Two of the principal product lines address ambient air quality, which is monitored by fixed-site units and by wearable monitors, respectively, each deploying the multi-technology approach, which is the core signature of the Company’s products.
The World Health Organization is on record (Fact Sheet No. 313 March 2014) as stating that “Ambient (outdoor air pollution) in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012”. Governments and administrations in many parts of the world are turning to the monitoring of street-level air pollution in cities, with wireless transmission of real time analytical data to nominated control centres, in an attempt to keep this health threat in check.
The Atmospheric Sensors unit for fixed site monitoring deploy four electrochemical sensors, an NDIR sensor for carbon dioxide, a particle monitor, relative humidity monitoring and temperature measurement. Data can be stored locally and can be transmitted to a central management site.
In many circumstances a wearable air quality monitoring system that also makes use of a complementary range of sensing technologies will be the optimum way to provide a reliable information set: Electrochemical, NDIR, and metal oxide sensors can all be included in the system.
Wearable air quality monitors
An additional advance in the case of metal oxide sensor technology is the use of AC rather than DC interrogation of the sensing material. This approach provides complementary atmospheric composition information from the real part and the imaginary part of the sensor impedance and introduces a marked enhancement in terms of both sensitivity and selectivity.
ASL systems are supported by advanced control and read-out electronics and made available for immediate use without the need for specialist skills.
It is company policy to work closely with customers in order to provide the most straightforward introduction of this valuable technology.
Company patents
The following patents have been granted to Atmospheric Sensors Ltd.:
GB 2433601 (2009) Air Quality Monitor
US 7,900,501 B2 (2011) Air Quality Monitor
US 8,646,311 B1 (2014) Sensors for hydrogen and ammonia
US 8,972,204 B2 (2015) Gas Discriminating Semiconductor Sensors