ALTAIR MSA XCell” Sensor Technology
Frequently Asked Questions
- The ALTAIR 4X Multigas Detector uses the NEW MSA XCell Sensors. Aren’t all electrochemical and catalytic bead sensors basically the same?
All sensors are not the same. Sensors are the heart of an instrument; sensor performance can vary greatly depending upon manufacturer. Most multigas detectors use the same sensors from the same few global suplliers. MSA has designed a superior gas detection sensor platform specifically optimized for MSA gas detectors. MSA XCell Sensors are designed for longer life faster response and higher performance when used with MSA’s ALTAIR 4X Multigas Detector.
MSA has designed and manufactured gas detection sensor and instrument for decades. Our experts are three to support you wit any product or application concerns, allowng you to focus on your corebusiness. - I read that every MSA XCell Sensor is built with an embedded application spesific integrated circuit (ASIC), what is an ASIC and why is it important?
An ASIC is microchip specifically designed for one application. ASIC’s are most commonly associated with consumer electronics in size over the years (i.e. cellular phones). In ASIC development a complete electronic circuit with multiple larger components is reduced to one tiny microchip dedicated to a specific purpose such as sensor control.
In recent years MSA has developped its own sensor ASIC. This chip contains a microprocessor, all circuit to drive and conpensate the sensor and a digital signal converter.
Every MSA XCeell Sensor contains an ASIC. This chip is much more than a smart sensor, digital XCell. Sensors perform real-time environmental correction and provide plug-and-play capabilities, greater RF immunity, and a higher overall performance level. Due to digital output, this sensor is not backwards-compatible with older MSA instruments, but instead establishes MSA’s future product platform. - Historically, oxygen (O2) sensor technology is seen as a weak link and the first to die in every instrument. How does MSA’s XCell O2 Sensor actually cahieve a typical lifespan of more than four years?
Most O2 sensor on the market to day use a consumable chemical reaction where a piece of lead is consumed and converted to lead oxide. These sensors have a very finite life. Once enough lead is gone, the sensor stops workig.
The MSA XCell O2 Sensor uses a non-consumable chemical reaction O2 is converted to water and then back to O2. The sensor does not”use itself up” each time it sees O2, generating a musch longer shelf-life and overall lifespan.