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Gas detection revisited

The most popular test for measuring gas transmission rates is described in ASTM D3985 “Standard Test Method for Oxygen Gas Transmission Rate Through Plastic Film and Sheeting Using Coulometric Sensor.”

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A Google search for “ASTM D3985” brings up many devices that utilize this method, but perhaps the most popular one is that made by Mocon, Inc. known as the Oxtran 2/21. While ASTM D3985 offers a reliable approach to oxygen transmission rate (OTR) testing, the method relies on measuring oxygen transfer under steady-state conditions, which requires extremely sensitive sensors capable of detecting minute amounts of oxygen. Such hardware is expensive to acquire and operate. Therefore, OTR testing has been relegated mostly to suppliers, or it’s been outsourced.

Recent advances in florescence-based gas detection promise to bring OTR testing to the masses with hardware that is low cost, durable, and simple to operate. Oxygen quenches florescence by way of energy transfer in certain fluorescing compounds. What this means is that when oxygen is not present, a light-activated compound will fluoresce brightly, but when oxygen is present florescence will be dimmer. Early florescence detectors calibrated florescence intensity to oxygen concentration. While this method worked well, it suffered from the fact that the entire optical path was part of the calibration, and changes to ambient light and/or optical path would affect measurements. Modern florescence methods rely on the florescence decay constant rather than intensity. This approach allows for separation of the florescent compound from the optical fiber altogether. This is paving the way to real-time, non-destructive, through-the-package measurement of in-pack oxygen concentration.

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