Apparatus for sensing volatile organic chemicals in fluids

Patent · 07 June 2005

OSTI ID:1175378

Hughes, Robert C.; Manginell, Ronald P.; Jenkins, Mark W.; Kottenstette, Richard; Patel, Sanjay V.

A chemical-sensing apparatus is formed from the combination of a chemical preconcentrator which sorbs and concentrates particular volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and one or more chemiresistors that sense the VOCs after the preconcentrator has been triggered to release them in concentrated form. Use of the preconcentrator and chemiresistor(s) in combination allows the VOCs to be detected at lower concentration than would be possible using the chemiresistor(s) alone and further allows measurements to be made in a variety of fluids, including liquids (e.g. groundwater). Additionally, the apparatus provides a new mode of operation for sensing VOCs based on the measurement of decay time constants, and a method for background correction to improve measurement precision.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• Assignee: Sandia Corporation
• Patent Number(s): 6,902,701
• Application Number: 09/974,327
• OSTI ID: 1175378
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION