Selective & extremely sensitive real-time chemical detection for a broad range of process monitoring applications

Profil Titel	Selective & extremely sensitive real-time chemical detection for a broad range of process monitoring applications
Referenz	07 GB EAST 0IJM
Herkunftsland	United Kingdom
Kooperationsart	Angebot
Eintrag/Änderung	2007-08-07 / 2008-04-23
Status	Dieses Profil ist abgelaufen! Falls Sie denoch Interesse haben, kontaktieren Sie uns. (2008-12-31)

Kurzfassung

A UK company offers a portable high performance system that can detect airborne gases down to levels of a few parts per billion. Using leading edge nanotechnology the cost effective system can detect multiple chemicals or analytes, & can be ‘trained’ for specific applications. Advantages include ease of use, compact footprint, easy integration, reduced running costs, & network connectivity. The company is seeking major industrial partners in defence & instrumentation/process engineering.

Details

The accurate detection of volatile organic compounds in extremely small quantities has many challenges. Although Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is widely used the technique it suffers from issues of size, fragility, portability and cost.

A new breakthrough gas detection system overcomes these limitations and represents a major step forward in portable analytical instrumentation. The latest stylish instrument is a powerful and adaptable chemical monitor in a self-contained, compact portable unit that can be easily integrated into industrial settings. It uses an improved analytical technique (field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry - FAIMS) combined with integrated sampling and processing for stand-alone operation. The instrument provides increased selectivity, sensitivity and decreased size that existing Ion Mobility Spectrometers cannot match.

The basic problem of detection in process monitoring is how to detect the chemical of interest in a complex mixture. The FAIMS technology identifies chemicals using a property know as ‘mobility’, a measure of how quickly an ion moves through an electric field. The mobility relates to size and mass, and is used to specifically distinguish and identify the chemical of interest.

In operation the sensor separates and identifies chemicals according to their characteristic mobility and ‘filters’ out the background chemicals that do not have the correct mobility ‘fingerprint’. The power and flexibility of the system is due to the fact that the filter can be easily reprogrammed through software and electrical signals to detect almost any chemical.

When there is a known and stable process, the instrument rapidly creates a fingerprint for the chemicals present in a mixture, on a near real time basis, even at extremely low concentrations and stores this as the ‘normal’ template. Software is used to analyse the fingerprint and change detection algorithms immediately identify any out-of-range or anomalous events. The event is logged, the irregular ‘fingerprint’ is stored, and the system can then use its numerous user-settable outputs to trigger alarms or control third-party systems.

The units have integrated temperature, flow and humidity sensors for stable, closed-loop operation. They can be configured to operate in ambient or "open air" environments and supplied with network and wireless connectivity for remote monitoring and operation. Importantly they can be easily integrated with other sensor data and control of third party systems.

Innovative Aspects:
The patented technology uses leading-edge micro and nanofabrication techniques coupled with Field Asymmetric Ion Mass Spectrometry (FAIMS).

The new portable stand-alone system outperforms conventional IMS-based instruments in the critical areas of size and weight, reliability, response speed, power consumption, reduce false positives, versatility and cost of manufacture. The robust solid-state sensor can detect chemical agents in concentrations as low as a few parts per billion. Other user benefits include:

• Flexibility to ‘train’ instrument for a broad range of processes;
• Reduce running costs and improve efficiency with fast analysis;
• Real-time, online, monitoring for rapid identification of anomalous events;
• High sensitivity with part per billion detection levels combined with inlet control for high dynamic range;
• Smart detection algorithms - or try out your own on captured data sets;
• Powerful custom software for data visualisation, real-time control and offline analysis;
• Expert help - access to chemistry professionals who are there to help understand and address your detection needs.