How the oxygen sensors works to control gas emissions

An oxygen sensor is used to measure the amount of oxygen in a gas or any available liquid. The most common use of the oxygen sensors is in the measurement of oxygen in the exhaust pipe during the engine combustion of vehicles. For quite sometime, oxygen sensors have been standard equipment used in vehicles.

The purpose of the O2 sensor is to regulate the amount of oxygen which finally helps to reduce exhaust gas emissions to the atmosphere. The O2 sensors are usually mounted on the down pipe of the exhaust. They generate a voltage signal that is directly proportional to the level of oxygen that is passing to the exhaust pipe.

It is believed that when the mixture of air and fuel is rich and the amount of oxygen is low in the exhaust, the oxygen difference will cause the sensing element to be able to generate high voltage reading. But when the mixture of air and fuel is low, the high level of oxygen in the exhaust makes the sensing element to drop in voltage reading. In order for the oxygen sensor to be very effective, it must be able to respond fast to any changes in the level of oxygen.