TY - JOUR A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Friedrich, Peter A1 - Berger, Jörg A1 - Rysstad, Gunnar A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Keusgen, Michael T1 - Realisation of a calorimetric gas sensor on polyimide foil for applications in aseptic food industry JF - Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical N2 - A calorimetric gas sensor is presented for the monitoring of vapour-phase H2O2 at elevated temperature during sterilisation processes in aseptic food industry. The sensor was built up on a flexible polyimide foil (thickness: 25 μm) that has been chosen due to its thermal stability and low thermal conductivity. The sensor set-up consists of two temperature-sensitive platinum thin-film resistances passivated by a layer of SU-8 photo resist and catalytically activated by manganese(IV) oxide. Instead of an active heating structure, the calorimetric sensor utilises the elevated temperature of the evaporated H2O2 aerosol. In an experimental test rig, the sensor has shown a sensitivity of 4.78 °C/(%, v/v) in a H2O2 concentration range of 0%, v/v to 8%, v/v. Furthermore, the sensor possesses the same, unchanged sensor signal even at varied medium temperatures between 210 °C and 270 °C of the gas stream. At flow rates of the gas stream from 8 m3/h to 12 m3/h, the sensor has shown only a slightly reduced sensitivity at a low flow rate of 8 m3/h. The sensor characterisation demonstrates the suitability of the calorimetric gas sensor for monitoring the efficiency of industrial sterilisation processes. KW - Sterilisation process KW - Hydrogen peroxide KW - Polyimide KW - Calorimetric gas sensor Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2011.01.032 SN - 0925-4005 N1 - Part of special issue "Eurosensors XXIV, 2010" VL - 170 SP - 60 EP - 66 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Friedrich, Peter A1 - Berger, Jörg A1 - Suso, Henri-Pierre A1 - Kupyna, Andriy A1 - Keusgen, Michael A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Optimisation and fabrication of a calorimetric gas sensor built up on a polyimide substrate for H2O2 monitoring JF - Physica status solidi (a) : applications and material science. 208 (2011), H. 6 Y1 - 2011 SN - 1862-6319 SP - 1235 EP - 1240 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Suco, Henri-Pierre A1 - Rysstad, Gunnar A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Monitoring the microbicidal effectiveness of gaseous hydrogen peroxide in sterilisation processes by means of a calorimetric gas sensor JF - Food control N2 - In the present work, a novel method for monitoring sterilisation processes with gaseous H2O2 in combination with heat activation by means of a specially designed calorimetric gas sensor was evaluated. Therefore, the sterilisation process was extensively studied by using test specimens inoculated with Bacillus atrophaeus spores in order to identify the most influencing process factors on its microbicidal effectiveness. Besides the contact time of the test specimens with gaseous H2O2 varied between 0.2 and 0.5 s, the present H2O2 concentration in a range from 0 to 8% v/v (volume percent) had a strong influence on the microbicidal effectiveness, whereas the change of the vaporiser temperature, gas flow and humidity were almost negligible. Furthermore, a calorimetric H2O2 gas sensor was characterised in the sterilisation process with gaseous H2O2 in a wide range of parameter settings, wherein the measurement signal has shown a linear response against the H2O2 concentration with a sensitivity of 4.75 °C/(% v/v). In a final step, a correlation model by matching the measurement signal of the gas sensor with the microbial inactivation kinetics was established that demonstrates its suitability as an efficient method for validating the microbicidal effectiveness of sterilisation processes with gaseous H2O2. KW - hydrogen peroxide KW - sterilisation KW - Bacillus atrophaeus KW - calorimetric gas sensor Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.11.048 SN - 0956-7135 VL - 31 IS - 2 SP - 530 EP - 538 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Ng, Yue Ann A1 - Spelthahn, Heiko A1 - Schneider, Andreas A1 - Henkel, Hartmut A1 - Friedrich, Peter A1 - Kolstad, Jens A1 - Berger, Jörg A1 - Keusgen, Michael T1 - Gas sensor investigation based on a catalytically activated thin-film thermopile for H2O2 detection JF - Physica Status Solidi (A). 207 (2010), H. 4 Y1 - 2010 SN - 1862-6300 N1 - Special Issue: Engineering of Functional Interfaces EnFI 2009 SP - 787 EP - 792 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jildeh, Zaid B. A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Kremers, Alexander A1 - Wagner, Torsten A1 - Wagner, Patrick H. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - FEM-based modeling of a calorimetric gas sensor for hydrogen peroxide monitoring JF - physica status solidi a : applications and materials sciences N2 - A physically coupled finite element method (FEM) model is developed to study the response behavior of a calorimetric gas sensor. The modeled sensor serves as a monitoring device of the concentration of gaseous hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2) in a high temperature mixture stream in aseptic sterilization processes. The principle of operation of a calorimetric H2 O2 sensor is analyzed and the results of the numerical model have been validated by using previously published sensor experiments. The deviation in the results between the FEM model and experimental data are presented and discussed. Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201600912 SN - 1862-6319 IS - Early View PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jildeh, Zaid B. A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Keusgen, Michael A1 - Wagner, Patrick H. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Experimental and Numerical Analyzes of a Sensor Based on Interdigitated Electrodes for Studying Microbiological Alterations JF - physica status solidi (a): applications and materials science N2 - In this work, a cell-based biosensor to evaluate the sterilization efficacy of hydrogen peroxide vapor sterilization processes is characterized. The transducer of the biosensor is based on interdigitated gold electrodes fabricated on an inert glass substrate. Impedance spectroscopy is applied to evaluate the sensor behavior and the alteration of test microorganisms due to the sterilization process. These alterations are related to changes in relative permittivity and electrical conductivity of the bacterial spores. Sensor measurements are conducted with and without bacterial spores (Bacillus atrophaeus), as well as after an industrial sterilization protocol. Equivalent two-dimensional numerical models based on finite element method of the periodic finger structures of the interdigitated gold electrodes are designed and validated using COMSOL® Multiphysics software by the application of known dielectric properties. The validated models are used to compute the electrical properties at different sensor states (blank, loaded with spores, and after sterilization). As a final result, we will derive and tabulate the frequency-dependent electrical parameters of the spore layer using a novel model that combines experimental data with numerical optimization techniques. Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201700920 SN - 1862-6319 VL - 215 IS - 15 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jildeh, Zaid B. A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Baltes, Klaus A1 - Wagner, Patrick H. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Development of an in-line evaporation unit for the production of gas mixtures containing hydrogen peroxide – numerical modeling and experimental results JF - International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer N2 - Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a typical surface sterilization agent for packaging materials used in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries. We use the finite-elements method to analyze the conceptual design of an in-line thermal evaporation unit to produce a heated gas mixture of air and evaporated H2O2 solution. For the numerical model, the required phase-transition variables of pure H2O2 solution and of the aerosol mixture are acquired from vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) diagrams derived from vapor-pressure formulations. This work combines homogeneous single-phase turbulent flow with heat-transfer physics to describe the operation of the evaporation unit. We introduce the apparent heat-capacity concept to approximate the non-isothermal phase-transition process of the H2O2-containing aerosol. Empirical and analytical functions are defined to represent the temperature- and pressure-dependent material properties of the aqueous H2O2 solution, the aerosol and the gas mixture. To validate the numerical model, the simulation results are compared to experimental data on the heating power required to produce the gas mixture. This shows good agreement with the deviations below 10%. Experimental observations on the formation of deposits due to the evaporation of stabilized H2O2 solution fits the prediction made from simulation results. Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.118519 SN - 0017-9310 VL - 143 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jildeh, Zaid B. A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Vahidpour, Farnoosh A1 - Wagner, Patrick H. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Development of a package-sterilization process for aseptic filling machines: A numerical approach and validation for surface treatment with hydrogen peroxide JF - Sensor and Actuators A: Physical N2 - Within the present work a sterilization process by a heated gas mixture that contains hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is validated by experiments and numerical modeling techniques. The operational parameters that affect the sterilization efficacy are described alongside the two modes of sterilization: gaseous and condensed H₂O₂. Measurements with a previously developed H₂O₂ gas sensor are carried out to validate the applied H₂O₂ gas concentration during sterilization. We performed microbiological tests at different H₂O₂ gas concentrations by applying an end-point method to carrier strips, which contain different inoculation loads of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores. The analysis of the sterilization process of a pharmaceutical glass vial is performed by numerical modeling. The numerical model combines heat- and advection-diffusion mass transfer with vapor–pressure equations to predict the location of condensate formation and the concentration of H₂O₂ at the packaging surfaces by changing the gas temperature. For a sterilization process of 0.7 s, a H₂O₂ gas concentration above 4% v/v is required to reach a log-count reduction above six. The numerical results showed the location of H₂O₂ condensate formation, which decreases with increasing sterilant-gas temperature. The model can be transferred to different gas nozzle- and packaging geometries to assure the absence of H₂O₂ residues. Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2019.111691 SN - 0924-4247 VL - 303 IS - 111691 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oberländer, Jan A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Boyen, Hans-Gerd A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Detection of hydrogen peroxide vapor by use of manganese(IV) oxide as catalyst for calorimetric gas sensors JF - Physica status solidi A: Applications and materials science N2 - In this work, the catalyst manganese(IV) oxide (MnO2), of calorimetric gas sensors (to monitor the sterilization agent vaporized hydrogen peroxide) has been investigated in more detail. Chemical analyses by means of X-ray-induced photoelectron spectroscopy have been performed to unravel the surface chemistry prior and after exposure to hydrogen peroxide vapor at elevated temperature, as applied in the sterilization processes of beverage cartons. The surface characterization reveals a change in oxidation states of the metal oxide catalyst after exposure to hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, a cleaning effect of the catalyst, which itself is attached to the sensor surface by means of a polymer interlayer, could be observed. Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201330359 SN - 1521-396X (E-Journal); 1862-6319 (E-Journal); 0031-8965 (Print); 1862-6300 (Print) VL - 211 IS - 6 SP - 1372 EP - 1376 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hennemann, Jörg A1 - Kohl, Claus-Dieter A1 - Reisert, Steffen A1 - Kirchner, Patrick A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Copper oxide nanofibres for detection of hydrogen peroxide vapour at high concentrations JF - physica status solidi (a) N2 - We present a sensor concept based on copper(II)oxide (CuO) nanofibres for the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) vapour in the percent per volume (% v/v) range. The fibres were produced by using the electrospinning technique. To avoid water condensation in the pores, the fibres were initially modified by an exposure to H2S to get an enclosed surface. By a thermal treatment at 350 °C the fibres were oxidised back to CuO. Thereby, the visible pores disappear which was verified by SEM analysis. The fibres show a decrease of resistance with increasing H2O2 concentration which is due to the fact that hydrogen peroxide is an oxidising gas and CuO a p-type semiconductor. The sensor shows a change of resistance within the minute range to the exposure until the maximum concentration of 6.9% v/v H2O2. At operating temperatures below 450 °C the corresponding sensor response to a concentration of 4.1% v/v increases. The sensor shows a good reproducibility of the signal at different measurements. CuO seems to be a suitable candidate for the detection of H2O2 vapour at high concentrations. Resistance behaviour of the sensor under exposure to H2O2 vapours between 2.3 and 6.9% v/v at an operating temperature of 450 °C. Y1 - 2013 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201200775 SN - 1862-6319 VL - 210 IS - 5 SP - 859 EP - 863 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim ER -