Portable Gas Sampling Module for Time-Variable Flow Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for analyzing gaseous flows, particularly those from chromatographic columns, are bulky, expensive, and inefficient due to the need for constant flow measurement and vacuum-pressure environments, limiting precision and portability.
Innovation Solution
A portable system comprising a sampling chamber, gas sampling module, ion filtering module, and ion detection module that maintains controlled pressures and ionizes gas particles to generate a representative ion flow, allowing analysis of time-variable gaseous flows without requiring bulky flow meters or extensive pumping systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If mass spectrometers are used to analyze gaseous flows, then analysis capability is provided, but the system becomes bulky and expensive due to vacuum-pressure requirements and pumping means
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the ionization function from a traditional mass spectrometer and separates it from the vacuum system. The ionization chamber operates at atmospheric pressure while only the detector region requires vacuum, eliminating the need for bulky pumping means and enabling system miniaturization while maintaining analysis precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into distinct functional segments: an ionization chamber operating at atmospheric pressure and a detector chamber operating at vacuum pressure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, reducing overall system size while maintaining measurement precision
2Ease of operation
If flow measurement and control means are added to maintain constant flows, then flow control is improved, but the system becomes bulky and expensive due to high-precision temperature-controlled flow meters
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the natural flow characteristics of gas chromatographic columns, which inherently provide controlled flow rates. The ionization chamber is designed to work effectively with these standard flow rates without requiring additional bulky flow measurement and control equipment
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of implementing complete flow control systems with precision meters, the patent accepts the flow rates naturally provided by chromatographic columns, which are sufficient for effective ionization and analysis, thereby avoiding unnecessary system complexity and size
3Reliability
If vacuum-pressure environments are created for ionization, then ionization efficiency is improved, but the system becomes bulky and expensive due to pumping means
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the vacuum requirement from the entire system and confines it only to the detector region. The ionization chamber operates at atmospheric pressure, eliminating the need for bulky pumping means while maintaining ionization efficiency through direct electron impact ionization
Solution Approach 2:
The system separates the ionization function (at atmospheric pressure) from the detection function (at vacuum pressure), allowing ionization to occur efficiently without requiring the entire system to be vacuum-sealed, thereby reducing system size
4Measurement precision
If pumping means are used to extract gaseous flows, then vacuum conditions are achieved, but the gaseous composition representation becomes imprecise and complex correction procedures are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary portion of the gaseous flow into the vacuum environment for detection, while the majority of the flow remains at atmospheric pressure in the ionization chamber. This minimizes the distortion of gaseous composition and eliminates the need for complex correction procedures
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of pumping the entire gaseous flow to vacuum, the system uses a small aperture to allow only a partial flow into the detector region, maintaining atmospheric pressure ionization conditions and preserving the accuracy of gaseous composition representation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves precise and portable analysis of time-variable gaseous flows, improving accuracy and sensitivity by maintaining gas flows at a molecular regime, enabling miniaturization and reducing costs, while allowing for real-time analysis and calibration.
Implementation Method 1
configured to ionize said gas particles present therein and emit the ions produced, so as to generate an ion flow I having an ion composition representative of the gaseous composition to be analyzed
Data Source
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AI summary
A portable system 1 for analyzing gaseous flows that vary over time is described, the system comprising a sampling chamber 18, a gas sampling module 7, an ion filtering module 8 and an ion detecting module 9. The sampling chamber 18 is suitable to be kept at a controlled sampling pressure Pc, and is configured to receive at least one gaseous flow F having a gaseous composition to be analyzed that is variable over time. The gas sampling module 7, arranged in fluidic communication with the sampling chamber 18, is configured to adjust an input gaseous flow Fi of gas particles from the sampling chamber 18, and an output gaseous flow Fo from the sampling module 7, so as to reproduce inside the sampling module 7 a gaseous composition representative of the gaseous composition to be analyzed. The gas sampling module 7 is further configured to ionize said gas particles and to emit the produced ions, so as to generate an ion flow I having an ion composition representative of the gaseous composition to be analyzed. The sampling module 7 is also suitable to maintain inside it a controlled ionization pressure Pi, and it is also configured in such a way that the input gaseous flow Fi comprises a plurality of micro-flows at a molecular or predominantly molecular regime, at the sampling pressure Pc, and the output gaseous flow Fo is a flow at a molecular or predominantly molecular regime, at the ionization pressure Pi. The ion filtering module 8 is operatively connected to the sampling module 7 to receive the ion flow I, and is configured to controllably select at least one type of ion present in the ion flow I and to generate a corresponding at least one homogeneous ion beam l', having an intensity representative of the concentration of the corresponding gas particle in the gaseous composition to be analyzed. The ion detecting module 9 is operatively connected to the ion filtering module 8 to receive the at least one ion beam l', and is configured to measure the intensity of the at least one ion beam l' and to generate a corresponding electric signal S representative of the concentration of the corresponding gas particle in the gaseous composition to be analyzed.