Design of an ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy oil concentration sensor for online HVAC measurements

Recent advances in the modeling and control of the vapor compression cycle has developed the need for a real time oil concentration rate (OCR) sensor. Because of its ability to give the most accurate online measurements of OCR, ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy has been selected as the measurement approach. Related work in this field is based on models that are unable to make accurate measurements down to zero percent oil concentration. Because of the extremely low OCR of modem HVAC units, the operating range of the sensor must be zero to one percent oil concentration. Improvements to prior models that employ Beer-Lambert's Law will allow the sensor to operate with improved accuracy over the entire operating range. This report details the design of the physical hardware, the analytical modeling, and the calibration methods to build and operate the OCR sensor.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Luz, Roman M. (Roman Manuel), 1979-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Haruhiko H. Asada.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/30310

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/30310