Exhaust gas sensors

The automotive industry needed a fast, reliable, under-the-hood method of determining nitrogen oxides in automobile exhaust. Several technologies were pursued concurrently. These sensing technologies were based on light absorption, electrochemical methods, and surface mass loading. The Y-12 plant was selected to study the methods based on light absorption. The first phase was defining the detailed technical objectives of the sensors--this was the role of the automobile companies. The second phase was to develop prototype sensors in the laboratories--the national laboratories. The final phase was testing of the prototype sensors by the automobile industries. This program was canceled a few months into what was to be a three-year effort