Carbon Dioxide Sensor

What Does Carbon Dioxide Sensor Mean?

A carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor is a small instrument that can detect and measure carbon dioxide within the surrounding air. Measuring CO2 is vital for those who work indoors or in confined spaces.

Safeopedia Explains Carbon Dioxide Sensor

CO2 sensors help ensure sufficient air quality in confined spaces. These sensors can also be used for measuring dissolved CO2 in beverages, fermentation and sequestration applications.

There are two basic types of CO2 sensors that are used depending on the principles of detection and measurement:

1. Non dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR): This is a spectroscopic sensor that uses an infrared source, an interference filter and an infrared detector.
2. Chemical CO2 gas sensor: Uses sensitive layers of polymer or heteropolysiloxane. This is a microelectronic-based system that uses very low energy and can fit in a small instrument. However, the lifetimes of such sensors are much lower than those of NDIRs.