Posted to News on 9th Apr 2010, 10:27
High-reliability temperature sensors used in breath tester
Variohm EuroSensor is supplying BetaTHERM's high-reliability temperature sensors for use in the Lion Alcolmeter 500 breath alcohol measuring instrument.
Approved by the UK's Home Office, the Lion Alcolmeter 500 is a breath alcohol measuring instrument that is used extensively by public services and other authorities for fast subject screening to ensure safe alcohol levels, in many instances before a vehicle or dangerous machinery is actually operated. In order to help it comply with the stringent accuracy and reliability standards for such equipment, the Lion Alcolmeter 500 uses high-reliability temperature sensors from BetaTHERM, supplied by its exclusive UK distributor Variohm-EuroSensor.
Temperature sensors used in breath alcohol instruments are essential to check that the subject's breath temperature falls within an acceptable range and to provide the means to compensate for minute breath temperature variance for the test result. Along with other measured criteria, breath temperature levels help to determine the validity of the breath sample; if for any reason the temperature is out of its normal relatively narrow range, the Alcolmeter 500 will register an alarm.
To maintain such a high specification, the Alcolmeter 500 uses ultra-small bead thermistors from BetaTHERM. These utilise metallic oxide semiconductor material sintered on platinum/iridium alloy lead wires with a controlled glass coating to provide a hermetic seal. With fast response times and high power sensitivities, the technology is well suited to gas flow or liquid temperature measurement, and their small size (0.25mm diameter) makes them suitable for portable instruments. Other applications for this high-reliability temperature sensor are gas chromatography and thermal conductivity gas analysis equipment.
BetaTHERM thermistors are used in demanding temperature measurement, control and compensation applications in biomedical, automotive, aerospace, instrumentation, HVAC, consumer industries and instrumentation. The range enjoys a reputation for high reliability and uncompromising accuracy, and Variohm provides technical support from customer product development through to full production.
