489 results about "Air sample" patented technology

An apparatus for fire detection in an electrical equipment rack includes a suction pipe system which communicates with the rack monitored through at least one suction opening and through which a representative air sample is drawn from the rack, an early fire detection module having at least one detector unit for detecting at least one fire parameter in the air sample extracted through the suction pipe system, and a controller for issuing an early fire detection signal in response to the result detected with the at least one detector unit. The early fire detection module is configured as a rackmount to be inserted into the rack.

The present invention is a single self-contained device for collecting, transferring, extracting, and testing for the presence of a target analyte in a sample obtained from a surface by swabbing, solid materials (pills, capsules, unknown powders), air samples and biological and non-biological fluids. The device includes a swab, a retention well including eluent fluid, and analysis technologies which can include but are not limited to lateral flow testing analysis. The major improvement is the invention of rinsing the swab with proprietary elution fluid prior to testing thereby not compromising the chemistry and allowing for a wide variety of applications under extremely hot or cold field conditions. Also, the device is in one self-contained unit instead of having a separate water dropper or spray. Moreover, the shape of the device is similar to a magic marker so it is more substantial than any drug tester on the market, as well in certain embodiments it can have grips resembling a gun and in certain embodiments can even emit sounds or smells when a surface is wiped or a positive test is attained

A water trap system based on a thermoelectric cooling device is employed to remove a major fraction of the water from air samples, prior to analysis of these samples for chemical composition, by a variety of analytical techniques where water vapor interferes with the measurement process. These analytical techniques include infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry and gas chromatography. The thermoelectric system for trapping water present in air samples can substantially improve detection sensitivity in these analytical techniques when it is necessary to measure trace analytes with concentrations in the ppm (parts per million) or ppb (parts per billion) partial pressure range. The thermoelectric trap design is compact and amenable to use in a portable gas monitoring instrumentation.

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for generating olfactory cohorts. Olfactory data is received from a set of chemical sensors. The olfactory data describes a set of olfactory patterns for an air sample. The olfactory data is processed to identify attributes of particles in the air sample and generate digital olfactory data. The digital olfactory data comprises metadata describing the attributes of the particles in the air sample to form digital olfactory data. A set of olfactory cohorts is generated using the attributes in the digital olfactory data.

The present invention relates to the field of sensing apparatus (10) in detecting particles in air sampled from a number of locations. In one aspect the present invention provides for the determination of the time of flight of a signal transmitted between a transmitter (42, 44) and a receiver (44, 42), comprising: transmitting a first signal comprising at least one characteristic waveform feature; transmitting a second signal comprising at least one characteristic waveform feature and a waveform modification introduced at a predetermined point in time of the duration of the second signal; receiving said first and second transmitted signals; determining a point of diversion between corresponding characteristic waveform features of the first and second received signals comprising super positioning said first and second received signals such that said point of diversion corresponds to an arrival time of the introduced waveform feature modification at the receiver. In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides an accurate time of flight determination of ultrasonic signals in a flow sensor (24) adapted for a smoke detector system (10).

The invention discloses a method and device for measuring particles by polarized light scattering. In a measurement process, an air sample to be detected flows through a testing region at a constant flow speed and laser is irradiated to the testing region after being subjected to focusing and polarization. The method comprises the following steps: (1) detecting Strokes vectors of scattered light of current particles after laser scattering, wherein the Strokes vectors represent the light intensity and a polarization state of the scattered light; (2) respectively calculating according to the Strokes vectors to obtain polarization parameters of the scattered light; (3) comparing the polarization parameters of the scattered light with standard polarization parameters of the scattered light in a standard library, and finding a particle diameter region and a refractive index which correspond to the proximate group of standard polarization parameters; and (4) determining the corresponding components of the current particles according to the refractive index so as to obtain component information and particle diameter range information thereof. The method and the device disclosed by the invention can be used for analyzing to obtain the component information of the particles; the particle diameter distribution of the small-diameter particles can be accurately distinguished accurately when being analyzed; meanwhile, the cost can be controlled well.

The present invention is a method and apparatus for contaminant detection in the food industry. Particularly, the method and apparatus involve collecting air samples containing aerosolized contaminate particles from a foodstuff and analyzing the sample for presence of a contaminate. Aerosol lab-on-a-chip and / or electronic nose devices are utilized for the detection of contaminant particles.

The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is a unmanned aerial vehicle that includes a sensing system for the detection and limited identification of biological agents. The system is small, light weight, requires little power to operate and uses few consumables. The system incorporates elements that enable it to obtain an air sample, extract particulates from the air sample and retain them on a stationary-phase collection media, exposes the particulates to electromagnetic radiation, and monitor the particulates for fluorescent emissions. To the extent that fluorescent emissions are detected and exceed a predetermined value, an alarm is triggered. In some embodiments, in addition to performing real-time analyses on the extracted particulates, the collection media is removed from the system and the sample is subjected to more detailed analysis via additional equipment. Various sample-collecting regions on the collection media are “time stamped” or “location stamped” so that it can determined when and / or where each sample that is being analyzed “off-line” was obtained.

A method, device and system for detecting the presence of microorganisms in an air sample taken from either a gaseous or liquid environment are described. The method including the steps of a) capturing with a filter microorganisms from the air sample; b) recovering from the filter with a liquid at least some microorganisms captured by the filter in step a); and c) detecting the presence of the at least some microorganisms in the liquid. The device and system include a chamber through which the air sample to be examined is circulated; a filter for capturing microorganisms susceptible to be present in the air sample; a liquid cooperating with the filter for recovering captured microorganisms therefrom; and a detector for detecting the presence of microorganisms in the liquid. The method, device and system are particularly useful for the continuous and on-site control, monitoring and detection of microorganisms, such as bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses and the like, which may be present in an air sample, taken from an air duct of a ventilation system.

The invention discloses an on-line continuous environmental air quality automatic monitoring base station, an automatic monitoring network system composed of a plurality of non-point source grid base stations and a data processing center, and a method of tracing with the system. The base station consists of an automatic sampling module, a sensor module and a meteorological monitoring module that are connected to a data transmission module. The data processing center monitoring the network system is equipped with databases, terrain data and a meteorological diffusion model. Once sampling occurs to the base station disposed in a protection zone of the system due to the deterioration of air quality, the data processing center runs the meteorological diffusion model according to real time data, calculates the occurring source that can affect the protection zone in the monitoring zone, and starts the base station set nearby the occurring source to perform sampling, a fast gas phase electronic nose is utilized to perform gas sample fingerprint analysis on the collected sample and compare fingerprint technology similarity, and the source can be traced according to the similarity. The system and the method have the characteristics of high precision, fast analysis speed and real-time grabbing of air samples, and provide sample guarantee for tracing positioning.

An air monitoring system includes a tubing having an electrically conductive inner surface. In one embodiment, the liner includes carbon based materials, such as for example carbon nanotubes. In another embodiment, a conductive layer is adhered to a substrate.

The invention relates to a small-sized environmental test chamber for pollutant release researches, which comprises a chamber body, an air generation system, a temperature-humidity control system, a sampling system and an air purifying device. By utilizing the small-sized environmental test chamber for simulating to approach real space, the temperature, the humidity and the air interchange ratio inside the chamber body can be controlled according to experimental conditions with low cost and simple operation. Meanwhile, the chamber body is provided with the purifying device, which can purify air samples at an air inlet and an air outlet so as to improve experimental conditions, be beneficial to acquiring real and reliable test data and avoid polluting indoor air.

A method of determining at least one point of entry of smoke into a smoke detection system, the system having a sampling pipe network including at least one sampling pipe and a plurality of sampling inlets through which an air sample can enter the at least one sampling pipe of the smoke detection system for analysis by a particle detector, said method including: determining a volume of sample air that has passed through at least part of the smoke detection system since a predetermined event or a value corresponding to said volume; and determining through which sampling inlet of the plurality of sampling inlets the smoke entered the smoke detection system based, at least in part, on the determined volume or value. Systems for implementing such a method and related methods are also described.

A system and method for selectively collecting exhaled air. The system includes a sensor 118 that can be configured for detecting a flow of exhaled air 130 from a person. A control system 120 can be responsive to the sensor 118. The control system 120 can be configured for generating a gate signal when at least one characteristic of the flow of exhaled air 130 satisfies one or more predetermined flow criteria. A valve 122 responsive to the gate signal can be configured for selectively gating only a predetermined portion of the flow of exhaled air to an air sample chamber 110.

Provided herein are methods and devices that allow for efficient management of many different sampling locations within a facility. A method for operating a biological sampler is described, such as by sampling an environment at a sampling position with the biological sampler and associating the sampling position with a unique identifier, wherein the unique identifier comprises an area and a location. Also provided are associated devices for carrying out the methods.

The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is a unmanned aerial vehicle that includes a sensing system for the detection and limited identification of biological agents. The system is small, light weight, requires little power to operate and uses few consumables. The system incorporates elements that enable it to obtain an air sample, extract particulates from the air sample and retain them on a stationary-phase collection media, exposes the particulates to electromagnetic radiation, and monitor the particulates for fluorescent emissions. To the extent that fluorescent emissions are detected and exceed a predetermined value, an alarm is triggered. In some embodiments, in addition to performing real-time analyses on the extracted particulates, the collection media is removed from the system and the sample is subjected to more detailed analysis via additional equipment. Various sample-collecting regions on the collection media are “time stamped” or “location stamped” so that it can determined when and / or where each sample that is being analyzed “off-line” was obtained.

The present invention describes a replaceable breath alcohol sensor module that can be replaced with a new pre-calibrated breath alcohol sensor module or re-calibrated. The breath alcohol sensor module requiring calibration can be removed from the body of a Breath Alcohol Testing Device (commonly called “breathalyser” or “breathalyzer”). The breath alcohol sensor module can be separately calibrated for accurate calculation of “percent blood alcohol concentration” (% BAC) based on breath air samples and then re-installed into the breath alcohol tester or the old breath alcohol sensor module can be replaced with a new pre-calibrated breath alcohol sensor module. The present invention improves upon and / or replacing the current method of re-calibration at a breathalyzer service center.

A system for reducing oxygen in a package of produce product using a lance manifold. The lance manifold has a first end adapted to receive an input gas flow and a second end adapted for placement in a partially-enclosed cavity containing the produce product. The second end of the lance manifold includes a plurality of exit ports adapted to produce an output gas flow and a sampling port for taking an air sample from the partially-enclosed cavity. The system also includes an oxygen analyzer for detecting oxygen content of gas inside the partially-enclosed cavity using the sampling port. The system is configured to produce an output gas flow with the following properties: a substantially oxygen-free composition; a flow rate of at least 100 standard cubic feet per hour (SCFH); and a flow direction substantially 90 degrees to a cavity opening of the partially-enclosed cavity.

The invention belongs to the measurement technical field of atmosphere environment quality, which specifically relates to an online automatic measuring system for environment air quality based on low-temperature condensing method sampling. The system is composed of a low-temperature condensing sampling system and an analyzing system; the low-temperature condensing sampling system comprises a drying pipe, an electronic cold trap and a low-temperature low trap that are connected in turn; the drying pipe is connected with an air inlet pipeline for removing vapor and condensing the environment air sample at low temperature; the analyzing system comprises a light source, a sampling battery, an optical spectrum instrument and a computer; the analyzing system splits and detects the air condensed by the sampling system through the optical spectrum instrument by the ultraviolet function from the light source and then analyzes the air by the computer. The system is high in integrated degree and measuring efficiency, which is suitable for continuous, real-time and online measurement of various pollutants of atmosphere environment (including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, ammonia, formaldehyde and part of benzene series) in environment air.

A method and system for isolating, transferring and testing potentially contaminated mail pieces. The mail pieces are encapsulated in a sealed package at one location and transferred to another location for testing. During testing, the sealed package is connected to an air sampling system, which directly draws an air sample from the sealed package. At the end of testing, the air pressure in the sealed package is sufficiently reduced, causing the sealed bag to collapse. A septum or a tube with a self-sealed coupler is provided on the sealed package to allow the air sampling system to draw air out of the sealed package. When the air sampling system is not connected to the sealed package, the septum or the self-sealed coupler prevents the air inside the sealed package from escaping into the environment. It is advantageous to disturb the mail pieces during air sampling.

The present invention is a method and apparatus for contaminant detection in the food industry. Particularly, the method and apparatus involve collecting air samples containing aerosolized contaminate particles from a foodstuff and analyzing the sample for presence of a contaminate. Aerosol lab-on-a-chip and / or electronic nose devices are utilized for the detection of contaminant particles.

An adapter for use with a low volume PUF sampler is described. The adapter is affixed over the open end of a PUF (polyurethane foam) sample cartridge. Sample tubing is affixed to an aperture in the adapter, and the free end of the sample tubing is then positioned at a desired sample location such as within an aircraft interior. As a vacuum is applied to the PUF cartridge, the adapter allows air collected at the sample point to pass through the tubing and through the interior of the PUF cartridge while preventing air surrounding the PUF cartridge from being drawn into the PUF cartridge except through the sample tubing. In this manner the sample point of a desired air sample can be selected at a point remote from the PUF cartridge. Additionally, use of multiple PUF cartridges and adapters allows the simultaneous collection of separate air samples.

The invention relates to a method and a device for detecting and localizing sources of fire in one or more monitored areas (R1, . . . , Rn) utilizing a suction pipe system (3) connecting the plurality of monitored areas (R1, . . . , Rn) and which communicates with each individual monitored area (R1, . . . , Rn) by means of at least one suction opening (4), a suction device (5) for extracting air samples (6) representative of the room air of the individual monitored areas (R1, . . . , Rn) from the individual monitored areas (R1, . . . , Rn) by means of the suction pipe system (3) and the suction openings (4), and a sensor (7) for detecting at least one fire parameter in the air samples (6) extracted through the suction pipe system (3), whereby the inventive device comprises a blowing device (8) for blowing out the air samples (6) suctioned into the suction pipe system (3) when sensor (7) detects at least one fire parameter in the extracted air samples (6). The fire is localized by means of the transit time measurement of a re-extracted fire parameter.

Embodiments of an apparatus for collecting biological aerosols from an air sample include a hollow tube adapted for pumping a liquid through an interior volume to an outer surface and a collection surface disposed on the outer surface and adapted for collecting the airborne particles from the surrounding air sample. Collection efficiency is enhanced by a charging mechanism that applies a charge to the airborne particles such that the airborne particles are deflected toward the collection surface. Embodiments of operation for the apparatus include the steps of providing the air sample, directing the air sample toward the hollow tube, and applying a charge to the airborne particles such that the airborne particles deposit on the collection surface / outer surface of said hollow tube.

The present invention provides a single self-contained device for collecting, extracting, on-site testing, and transferring for forensic confirmatory analysis, a wide variety of substances including, but not limited to, drugs of abuse, explosives, weapons of mass destruction, food toxins and industrial wastes. Samples can be obtained from a surface by swabbing a suspect area or the testing of solid materials (pills, capsules, powders), air samples and biological and non-biological fluids by placing the substance in the device. The device includes a swab, a retention well including a wash, and analysis technologies that can be, for example, a lateral flow testing system. The swab is rinsed with a wash prior to testing thereby not compromising the chemistry of the detection technologies and allowing for a wide variety of applications under a number of field conditions. Also, the device is a single self-contained unit instead of having a separate reagent droppers or sprays, making it compact and easy to use. Moreover, the device is designed to not only collect and test samples but to seal the originally target analyte, not affected by testing procedures, in a specially designed cap for shipping under chain of custody documentation to a forensic laboratory for confirmatory testing.

A method of sensing Hg and related Hg sensing system for fluid samples includes the steps of providing a sensing solution including a plurality of anisotropic Au nanoparticles, and contacting a water sample or an air sample suspected of containing Hg or a vapor stream derived from the water sample with the plurality of anisotropic Au nanoparticles. A gold amalgam compound is generated when Hg is present in the sample. The presence, and optionally the concentration, of Hg in the sample are then determined using an optical method based on a change in at least one of absorption, reflectance and scattering of the solution. In a related inventive embodiment a filter for water treatment and remediation including the removal of Hg includes a first flow through grid having a Hg reducing material thereon on an inlet side of the filter and at least one flow through second grid including a surface having amalgamating material downstream from the first grid.

The invention discloses a movable type air monitoring car which comprises a monitoring car body. An air monitoring unit, a field control unit and a remote control platform are integrated in the monitoring car body, wherein the air monitoring unit comprises an automatic air sample collection module, an air sample preprocessing module and a monitoring analysis module in sequential data connection; and the field control unit comprises an air sample preprocessing control module, an instrument operation control module, a monitored data acquisition and transmission module, a field instant air sample analyzing module, a GPS (global positioning system) positioning module, a general meteorological parameter module, a video and camera module and a remote communication transmission module. The movable air monitoring car disclosed by the invention can monitor the content and components of pollutants in air anytime and anywhere, and can monitor the atmospheric environment in a relatively wide range at continuous points without being limited to a fixed place. The invention brings convenience to the atmospheric environmental monitoring in some areas without fixed monitoring equipment and the accident sites.

The invention discloses a PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5 particle size cutting device, which can effectively cut particle matters with a particle size of more than 2.5 microns by utilizing the aerodynamics property of the particle matters. The PM 2.5 particle size cutting device comprises an air sample inlet pipe, a cyclone separator, an adaptor and an air sample outlet pipe, wherein the cyclone separator is formed by an air inlet, a separation cavity, an air outlet and a particulate matter collection chamber. The PM 2.5 particle size cutting device is compact in structure and convenient to use, can efficiently cut the particulate matters with the particle size of more than 2.5 microns under the condition of a constant flow rate, and can be suitable for preceding stage particulate size cutting of environment monitoring equipment.