Method of detecting a propellant gas
AssigneeWilco AG
InventorsLukas Emmenegger, Jana Jágerská, Béla Tuzon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and a system for detecting the presence of propellant gas in a gaseous sample exploit laser light especially in the 3.30-3.5 μm range. The propellant can be propane, n-butane, i-butane, dimethyl ether, methyl ethyl ether, HFA 134a, HFA 227, or any other propellant exhibiting absorption in the requisite wavelength range. The presence of the application of this method in leak testing of propellant-containing containers such as aerosols or fuel canisters, permits high-speed, high accuracy leak detection capable of replacing existing testing methods.
Claims66
Method of detecting the presence of at least one propellant gas in a gaseous sample, comprising the steps of:
- receiving the sample in a sample chamber;
- generating test laser light pulses and reference laser light pulses, the spectrum of at least the test laser light pulses being at least partially within a wavelength range of 3.30-3.55 μm wherein absorption is indicative for the presence of said propellant gas;
- passing at least the test laser light pulses through the sample chamber;
- detecting the test laser light pulses and the reference laser light pulses with at least one detector;
- comparing the amplitude of at least one detected test laser light pulse with the amplitude of at least one detected reference laser pulse so as to determine the presence or absence of said propellant above a predetermined threshold concentration in the sample chamber.
Propellant gas detector system comprising:
- a sample chamber
- a laser light generating arrangement with an output for reference laser light pulses and for test laser light pulses, said laser light having a spectrum at least partially within a wavelength range of 3.30-3.55 μm wherein absorption is indicative for the presence of said propellant gas;
- a detector arrangement with a detector input for test laser light pulses and reference laser light pulses and with a detector output, said output of said laser light generating arrangement being operationally connected to said detector input via said sample chamber;
- a comparing processing unit with a processing input and a processing output;
- said detector output being operationally connected to said processing input;
- said comparing processing unit generating at said processing output a result signal of a comparison of the amplitude of the said test laser light pulses and the amplitude of the said reference laser light pulses.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.