Patent ID: 8377276

Claim:
A high-pressure reference electrode for high-temperature applications, comprising: (a) a tube for housing an internal reference electrolyte and a metal conductor connected to a reference material at the bottom; (b) seals at the top of the tube that seal the internal reference electrolyte and the reference material inside the tube and allow the metal conductor to penetrate for electrical connection; (c) an outer plug that is sealed to the lower end of the tube and is exposed directly to a harsh high-temperature external liquid and has sufficient ionic conductivity (d) an inner plug that is for regulating the outflow of the internal reference electrolyte, but is less resistant to the harsh high-temperature external liquid than the outer plug, and is sealed to the inside wall of the tube above the outer plug so that the inner plug is in direct contact with the internal reference electrolyte, but separated from the external liquid by the outer plug; wherein the inner plug provides the function of restraining the outflow of the internal reference electrolyte and the outer plug provides the function of preventing the inner plug from directly contacting the external liquid and protecting the inner plug from being chemically or mechanically attacked by the external liquid so that the inner plug has a low degradation rate when the reference electrode is exposed to the external liquid.