Electro-galvanic oxygen sensor

Electro-galvanic fuel cell as used in a diving rebreather to measure the partial pressure of oxygen.
Two oxygen cells as used by oxygen analysers for diving gas showing commonly used connectors

An electro-galvanic fuel cell is an electrochemical device which consumes a fuel to produce an electrical output by a chemical reaction. One form of electro-galvanic fuel cell based on the oxidation of lead is commonly used to measure the concentration of oxygen gas in underwater diving and medical breathing gases.

Electronically monitored or controlled diving rebreather systems,[1] saturation diving systems,[2] and many medical life-support systems use galvanic oxygen sensors in their control circuits to directly monitor oxygen partial pressure during operation.[3] They are also used in oxygen analysers in recreational, technical diving and surface supplied mixed gas diving to analyse the proportion of oxygen in a nitrox, heliox or trimix breathing gas before a dive.[4]

These cells are lead/oxygen galvanic cells where oxygen molecules are dissociated and reduced to hydroxyl ions at the cathode. The ions diffuse through the electrolyte and oxidize the lead anode. A current proportional to the rate of oxygen consumption is generated when the cathode and anode are electrically connected through a resistor[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Sieber 2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference IMCA D022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Goble was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference DANnitrox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).