The first oxygen sensor

developed by Bosch was

Figure 1. Bosch oxygen sensor. installed in a Volvo 240/260
series vehicle 25 years ago.

osch delivered 10 million oxygen sensors to the U.S.

B market in 1976 and by 1983 the number had risen to 50

million. Today, Bosch produces 33 million oxygen
sensors per year. 1
λ control range (catalyst window)

In 1982 Bosch launched the heated oxygen sensor which NOx

reaches full operability in 30 seconds after a cold engine is Engine
started. The sensor is heated to 400 oC and has a service life of emissions
HC
160,000 km, twice as long as the previous unheated sensor. CO
In 1994 Bosch developed an oxygen sensor with a planar
ceramic structure that is fully functioning 10 seconds after the
vehicle is started. 2
CO
Today’s oxygen sensor NOx
Engine
Oxygen sensors (see Figure 1) are required today due to the emissions HC
increasingly tough exhaust emissions and go hand-in-hand
with the catalytic converters. One oxygen sensor is used in the
exhaust branch right before the catalytic converter. Sometimes
a second oxygen sensor is placed in the exhaust system after the 3
catalytic converter of a spark-ignition engine to permit opti-
mum performance of the three-way catalytic converters. λ-sensor
The information obtained from the sensors indicates how voltage
complete the combustion process is in the combustion cham-
ber. The optimum readings are obtained when the air to fuel
ratio is 14.7 to one. The stoichiometric air/fuel ratio is the mass 0.975 1.0 1.025 1.05
of 14.7 kg of air to 1 kg of gasoline theoretically necessary for rich Excess- air factor λ lean
complete combustion. The excess air factor or air ratio (λ)
indicates the deviation of the actual air/fuel ratio from the Figure 2. Control range and reductions in exhaust under three
theoretically required ratio. λ = (actual induced air mass)/ scenarios. Number 1 is without a catalytic converter. Number 2 is with
(theoretical air requirement). a catalytic converter. Number 3 is the λ oxygen sensor voltage curve.

Service Tech Magazine/May 2001 13

 1. Ceramic coating 2. Electrodes 3. Contacts 4. Housing contacts 1. Porous protective layer 2. External electrode
5. Exhaust pipe 6. Ceramic support shield (porous) 3. Sensor laminate 4. Internal electrode 5. Reference air laminate
7. Exhaust gas 8. Ambient air 6. Insulation layer 7. Heater 8. Heater laminate
9. Connection contacts

8 1
7
5
2

4 3
1
4

2 3 5

6 6

V, voltage 6

Figure 3. Oxygen sensor in exhaust pipe. Figure 6. Operational layers in a planar oxygen sensor.

Variations from this optimum ratio result in various levels The three way catalytic converter is able to reduce the HC,
of emissions. Excess fuel results in the formation of hydrocar- CO, and NOx emissions by more than 98% provided the engine
bons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO). Excess air can cause operates within a very narrow scatter range (<1%) centered
increased levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The oxygen sensor around the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio (see Figure 2). A closed
or sensors can identify any variations from the ideal air/fuel loop control system that relies on a closed loop control circuit
ratio and send a signal to the engine management system to to maintain the air/fuel mixture consistently within the optimal
adjust the ignition and injection processes. range known as the catalyst window is the best strategy.

Sensor design
1. Sensor housing 2. Ceramic support tube 3. Connection wire 4. Guard tube with slots
5. Active ceramic sensor layer 6. Contact 7. Protective cap 8. Heater element The oxygen sensor (see Figure 3) is a gal-
9. Crimped connections for heater element 10. Spring washer vanic oxygen concentration cell with a
1 2 3 solid state electrolyte. The solid state elec-
trolyte is an impermeable zirconium diox-
ide ceramic unit stabilized with yttrium
oxide. It is open on one end and closed on
the other. Mounted on both the inner and
outer surfaces are gas permeable platinum
electrodes.
The platinum electrode on the outside
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 acts as a miniature catalyst to support reac-
tions in the incoming exhaust gases and
Figure 4. Heated oxygen sensor. bring them into a state of stoichiometric
balance. The side that is exposed to the
1. Guard tube 2. Ceramic seal assembly 3. Sensor housing 4. Ceramic support tube exhaust gases also has a porous ceramic
5. Planar sensor element 6. Protective cap 7. Connection wire layer (Spinell coating) to protect against
contamination. A metal tube with numer-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ous slots guards the ceramic body against
impacts and thermal shocks. The inner
cavity is open to the atmosphere which
serves as the unit’s reference gas.
The two-state sensor operation is based
in the Nernst Principle. The sensor’s ce-
ramic material conducts oxygen ions at
temperatures 350oC and above. Disparities
in oxygen levels on the respective sides of
Figure 5. Planar oxygen sensor the sensor will result in the generation of

14 Service Tech Magazine/May 2001

electrical voltage between the two surfaces. This voltage
1. Mass airflow sensor 2. Engine 3a. Oxygen sensor 1
serves as the index of how much the oxygen levels vary on the 3b. Oxygen sensor 2 4. Catalytic converter 5. Injectors
two sides of the sensor. The amount of residual oxygen in the 6. Electronic control unit
exhaust fluctuates sharply in response to the variation in the Vv Valve control voltage Vs sensor voltage Qe injection quantity
induction mixture’s air/fuel ratio.
Oxygen sensitive voltage generation ranges from 800 to
1000 millivolts for rich mixtures to as low as 100 millivolts for
lean mixtures. The transition from rich to lean corresponds to Exhaust gas
Air
450 to 500 millivolts.
1 2 4
Heated oxygen sensor
3a 3b
An electric heater element (see Figure 4) is used to warm the
Qe
ceramic material when the engine is operating at low load Fuel
factors. At the higher load factors the sensor’s temperature is 5
determined by the exhaust gas. The heated oxygen sensor helps
Vsa Vsb
ensure low and stable emissions due to the consistent mainte- Vv
nance of optimal operating temperatures.
6
Planar λ oxygen sensor
The basic operating concept (see Figure 5) is the same as the
heated finger- type sensor in that it generates a response curve
with a characteristic jump at λ equal to one. The planar sensor
is distinguished from the finger type by:
• the solid body electrolyte consists of ceramic layers Figure 8. Diagram of closed a λ closed-loop mixture control.
• a solid ceramic sealant retains the sensor element within the
sensor casting chamber (diffusion gap) in the Nernst cell. This configuration
• a dual-wall guard tube protects the sensor element against contrasts with the layout of the two-state sensor by maintaining
excessive thermal and physical stresses a consistently stoichiometric air/fuel ratio in the chamber.
The individual active layers (see Figure 6) are manufactured Electronic circuitry modulates the voltage supply to maintain
using silk-screening techniques. Stacking laminated layers the composition of the gas in the monitoring chamber at a
with various configurations makes it possible to integrate a consistent λ equals one. The pump cell corresponds to lean
heater within the sensor element. exhaust by discharging oxygen from the diffusion gap to the
outside, but reacts to rich exhaust by pumping oxygen from the
Wide band λ oxygen sensor surrounding exhaust gas into the diffusion gap, reversing the
This sensor expands on the principle of the Nernst unit (two- direction of the current. Because the pumping current is also
state sensor function) by incorporating a second chamber, the proportional to the oxygen concentration and/or oxygen defi-
pump cell (see Figure 7). It is through this small slot in this ciency, it serves as an index of the excess air-factor of the
pump cell that the exhaust gas enters the actual monitoring exhaust gas. An integral heater unit ensures an operating
temperature of at least 600oC.
The two-state unit uses the voltage at the Nernst cell as a
1. Nernst cell 2. Reference cell 3. Heater 4. Diffusion gap direct measurement signal while the wide band sensor employs
5. Pump cell 6. Exhaust pipe special processing and control circuitry to set the pumping
current. This current is then monitored and measured as an
index of the exhaust gas’s excess-air factor. Because sensor
operation is no longer dependent on the step function response
+
- of the Nernst cell, air factors ranging from 0.7 to 4 can be
monitored as a continuous progression. Thus λ control of the
engine can proceed on a reference spectrum instead of depend-
ing solely upon a single point.

Closed loop control

3 The oxygen sensor relays a voltage signal to the electronic
engine management unit which then issues a command to the
injection system to enrichen or lean out the mixture as indicated
4
by the oxygen sensor’s signal voltage (see Figure 8). The
system thus counters lean mixtures by increasing the injected
fuel quantity and rich mixtures by reducing it.
5 1 2
Information and illustrations for this article supplied by
6
Bosch.

Figure 7. Design of a continuous action, wide-band oxygen sensor Interesting? Circle 11

showing the sensor’s installation in the exhaust pipe. Not interesting: Circle 12

Service Tech Magazine/May 2001 15