Patent ID: 6849239

Claim:
An apparatus for analyzing a multi-component gas mixture, comprising: (a) an array of at least two chemo/electro-active materials, each chemo/electro-active material exhibiting a different electrical response characteristic, upon exposure at a selected temperature to the gas mixture, than each of the other chemo/electro-active materials, the electrical response characteristic of at least one material being quantifiable as value, wherein the value of the response of that material is constant or varies by no more than about twenty percent during exposure of the material to the gas mixture at the selected temperature for a period of at least about one minute; (b) a heater that heats the array to a temperature above 500° C.; (c) means for determining the electrical response of each chemo/electro-active material upon exposure of the array to the gas mixture; and (d) means for detecting the presence of, or calculating the actual concentration of, one or more individual component gases and/or subgroups within the gas mixture from the electrical responses of the chemo/electro-active materials inputted thereto, but not from a baseline response value, comparison response value or reference gas value inputted thereto.