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CONTINUOUS ION MOBILITY MONITORING AS A LIQUID STREAM PROCESS SENSOR

Award Information
Agency: Department of Energy
Branch: N/A
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 7033
Amount: $469,000.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1988
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
Po Box 162
Palouse, WA 99161
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Mr Christopher Shumate
 (509) 878-1785
Business Contact
Phone: () -
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

IN A WIDE VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES, MANY INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES USE FLOWING STREAMS OF LIQUIDS AND GASES. BECAUSE THESE STREAMS ARE A COMPLEX MIXTURE OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS, KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONSTITUENTS IS ESSENTIAL FOR PROCESS CONTROL, QUALITY CONTROL, AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. MANY PREVALENT MONITORING TECHNIQUES REQUIRE THAT A SAMPLE BE EXTRACTED FROM THE STREAM AND ANALYZED EX SITU USING STANDARD CHEMICAL ANALYTICAL METHODS SUCH AS GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY, MASS SPECTROMETRY, ETC. THE EXISTING TECHNIQUES THAT ARE CAPABLE OF MONITORING THE PROCESS STREAM IN SITU ARE EITHER LIMITED TO SPECIFIC CONSTITUENTS OR HAVE POOR SENSITIVITY. CONSEQUENTLY, EXISTING CONTINUOUS-MONITORING TECHNIQUES HAVE LIMITED UTILITY (SUCH AS WARNING FOR ALARM CONDITIONS). A NOVEL LIQUID PROCESS STREAM SENSOR IS PLANNED THAT MAKES USE OF THE FACT THAT IONS OF A COMPOUND DRIFT WITH A UNIQUE MOBILITY IN AN APPLIED ELECTRIC FIELD. HENCE, A SPECTROMETER CAN BE BUILT THAT DETECTS THE VARIOUS CONSTITUENTS OF A LIQUID PROCESS STREAM USING THEIR ION MOBILITY SIGNATURE. THE IN-SITU CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF THE STREAM IS ACCOMPLISHED BY DIRECTING A SMALL PORTION OF A FLOWING PROCESS STREAM INTO THE ION MOBILITY SPECTROMETER USING A NOVEL SENSING HEAD. THIS SENSING HEAD, CALLED THE ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION CHAMBER, NEEDS VERY SMALL SAMPLES (ON THE ORDER OF MICROLITERS PER MINUTE) FOR OPERATION. HENCE, THE PROCESS STREAM ITSELF IS UNDISTURBED BY THE MONITORING OPERATION. BECAUSE THE ION MOBILITY SPECTROMETER IS BASED ON A GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE IT IS CAPABLE OF MONITORING A WIDE VARIETY OF PROCESS LIQUIDS.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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