Team:Aachen/Collaborations/Methane Sensor

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Revision as of 02:23, 17 October 2014 by Aschechtel (Talk | contribs)

A low-cost DIY methane sensor for Team Braunschweig

Our colleagues from Braunschweig are cultivating microorganisms that grow on methane (CH4) which is supplied via the gas phase. To monitor the methane uptake by their E. co(w)li, they would like to measure the methane concentration in the gas phase. With the standard analytical methods in the lab, this is very difficult, but when they told us about their problem, we knew that we might be able to help them. We assembled an Arduino-based methane sensor and wrote a program to record the data.

The componentes for the methane sensor include:

  • [http://www.dx.com/p/arduino-nano-v3-0-81877 Arduino Nano V3 clone] Aachen ArduinoNano.jpg
  • [http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-mq-4-methane-gas-sensor-natural-coal-co-detector-module-for-arduino.html SainSmart MQ-4 Gas Sensor] Aachen SainSmartMQ4.jpg
  • A [http://www.dx.com/p/syb-170-mini-breadboard-for-diy-project-red-140101#.U-ng9VLwC7Q Breadboard] and some wires Aachen Breadboard.jpg

To set up the electronics for a measurement, the sensor and the Arduino have to be connected according to the following scheme:

Aachen Collaboration-BS-Schematic.png
Connecting the MQ-4 module to the Arduino
Only three wires are required to connect the MQ-4 module to the Arduino Nano.

Serial Client - a WPF application to log data