Volatile Analyte Gas Blending With Feedback Concentration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for producing high precision blended gas mixtures, particularly those mimicking exhaled human breath, face challenges in maintaining accurate and precise concentrations of volatile analytes over extended periods and adjusting these concentrations on demand, while also ensuring proper humidification, due to limitations in commercial gas sources and miscibility issues.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an analyte gasifier and a gas mixer subsystem, where the analyte gasifier nebulizes a volatile analyte with an inert carrier gas to form an analyte gas stream, which is then mixed with diluent gases and humidified to precise concentrations using a gas analyzer and proportioner for real-time feedback control, ensuring accurate and precise gas mixtures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If commercial gas sources are used to produce blended gas mixtures, then the production process is simple, but the compositional accuracy is limited to ±2% of the reported concentration
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the gas mixture production into separate functional modules: a volatile analyte delivery system that precisely controls analyte vapor generation, a carrier gas flow control system, and a mixing chamber. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized for its specific function, achieving compositional accuracy better than ±2% while maintaining operational simplicity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates real-time feedback through gas concentration sensors that continuously monitor the blended gas composition. The sensor data feeds back to flow controllers that automatically adjust the volatile analyte and carrier gas flow rates to maintain target concentrations, thereby achieving high compositional accuracy without requiring complex manual calibration procedures
2Stability of the object's composition
If volatile analyte gas is significantly diluted in inert gas to stay in gas phase, then the analyte remains stable in gas phase, but the tank depletion rate increases requiring frequent tank changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the physical state parameter of the volatile analyte from gas phase storage to liquid phase storage. By maintaining the analyte as a liquid in a reservoir and using controlled vaporization, the system achieves gas phase stability in the output mixture without the limitations of diluted gas tank storage, eliminating frequent tank changes and enabling continuous testing
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes phase transition by storing the volatile analyte as a liquid and converting it to gas phase through controlled vaporization in a heated chamber. This phase transition approach allows the analyte to be delivered in gas form for mixing while avoiding the depletion issues associated with pre-diluted gas tanks, thereby maintaining productivity and testing continuity
3Stability of the object's composition
If tank changes are performed frequently to maintain volatile analyte supply, then the gas phase stability is maintained, but additional variability is introduced during testing
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous operation by using a liquid analyte reservoir with controlled vaporization that can supply analyte indefinitely without interruption. The continuous flow of carrier gas through the vaporization chamber ensures constant analyte vapor generation, eliminating the discontinuities and variability introduced by frequent tank changes while maintaining analyte concentration stability
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates self-regulating mechanisms where the vaporization chamber automatically maintains equilibrium between liquid analyte and analyte vapor based on temperature and flow conditions. This self-service approach ensures consistent analyte delivery without requiring manual intervention for tank changes, thereby improving testing consistency and reliability
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 maintains accurate and precise concentrations of volatile analytes in gas mixtures for extended periods, allowing on-demand adjustments and mimicking exhaled human breath, thereby enhancing the performance of breath sensors like those in the DADSS program.
Implementation Method 1
an analyte gasifier (AG) subsystem for receiving the volatile analyte in liquid form, nebulizing the volatile analyte and mixing the nebulized volatile analyte with the inert carrier gas
Implementation Method 2
a gas mixer (GM) subsystem for receiving the AGS from the AG subsystem and mixing the AGS with the supply of at least one diluent gas so as to produce the BGP
Data Source
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AI summary
A system for producing a high precision blended gas product (BGP), comprising: a volatile analyte in liquid form; an inert carrier gas; at least one diluent gas; an analyte gasifier (AG) subsystem for receiving the volatile analyte in liquid form, nebulizing the volatile analyte and mixing the nebulized volatile analyte with the inert carrier gas so as to form an analyte gas stream (AGS); a gas analyzer (GA) for receiving the AGS and analyzing the same; a gas proportioner for receiving the AGS from the GA, receiving the at least one diluent gas, and proportioning the AGS and the at least one diluent gas based on the results of the GA to provide a proportioned AGS and a proportioned at least one diluent gas; and a gas mixing chamber for receiving the proportioned AGS and the proportioned at least one diluent from the gas proportioner to produce the BGP.