New Optical Fine Dust Sensor

The fine dust sensor FDS 15, from Dr. Födisch Umweltmesstechnik AG (Germany), is an optical sensor for continuous measurement and control of fine dust contents. It can be integrated into several applications. By means of the FDS 15 it is possible to determine the current fine dust loading of the environment and make out health hazards.

Application examples include: monitoring of fine dust in the range of production (workshops, factory buildings etc.), monitoring of room air quality in offices and public institutions (hospitals, schools etc.) or in the private domain, monitoring of ambient air, and upgrading of weather stations.

The determination of the dust content in the FDS 15 is based on the method of scattered light measurement. The sucked air is pre-heated to 50 °C. Thereby flow enforcement takes place via the integrated fan. The velocity of the measuring gas is chosen in a way that ensures particles are determined representatively. For the analysis of alveolar particle fractions (PM2,5) an integrated pre-sep­arator is used.

In the FDS 15 a periodic control and correction of zero point and reference point is carried out. By evaluation of the internal measuring signals a high zero point stability is achieved.