OSU researcher wins OCAST award to develop a nanosensor for monitoring impurities in fuels

Monday, July 12, 2010

A. Kaan Kalkan, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Oklahoma State University, has received a two-year $89,480 grant from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.  The award funds development of a hybrid plasmon damping sensor, which will detect sulfur impurities in gasoline and diesel down to the parts per billion levels.

The United States, Europe, Canada and Japan have regulated the sulfur level in diesel and gasoline from 500 to 15 parts per million.  Such stringent regulation imposes obligations to monitor sulfur at all points from manufacturer through distribution.

The active element of the sensor is a layer of silver nanoparticles.  Kalkan employs a novel nanofabrication technique developed in his lab to synthesize the nanoparticles on a semiconductor thin film.  The particles are separated by only a few nanometers, leading to strong electromagnetic interaction between them. 

As a result, the particles exhibit a strong and well-resolved hybrid plasmon resonance. This resonance, which can easily be monitored by a hand-held spectrophotometer, is very sensitive to sulfur residues.  As the sulfur residues attach to the nanoparticles, the resonance is significantly damped, even at part per billion levels.

Kalkan has already developed a prototype of the sensing device, and will now work to integrate it with downstream fuel technology.

Commercialization will involve a joint effort with AMETEK Oil and Gas.  Gross sales are projected at $6 million.

The presence of sulfur in fuels has several adverse effects, including corrosion in engines and acid rains; quick deterioration of expensive catalytic converters in vehicles resulting in air pollution; inefficient combustion in engines and particulate formation that again leads to air pollution and greenhouse effect.