High voltage spark excitation and ionization detector system

A method of analyzing a sample compound in a carrier gas comprising the steps of:

• (a) flowing the carrier gas and any sample compounds mixed therewith through a chamber for exposure to a periodically pulsed DC current sparks across the chamber;
• (b) forming charged particles as a result of the spark in the chamber wherein the charged particles are formed from the sample, and dispersing the charged particles in the chamber for measurement at a remote point within the chamber;
• and
• (c) wherein the measurement step occurs at a timed spacing relative to the spark in the chamber.

A gas detector for identification and quantitation of sample compounds, comprising:

• (a) an elongated chamber having a chamber inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, and a gas flow path between said inlet and outlet ends;
• (b) means for flowing carrier gas supply for said chamber;
• (c) means for introducing sample gas into said chamber;
• (d) two electrodes spaced apart and located to produce short repeated high voltage pulsed DC current sparks within said chamber and across said gas flow path and wherein spark duration minimizes electrode erosion and permits observation of phenomena occurring at and between sparks;
• and
• (e) means responsive to emission of characteristic spectra by sample constituents during the spark and emission of characteristic spectra by sample constituents reacting with metastable excited carrier species between sparks.

A gas detector for identification and quantitation of sample compounds, comprising:

• (a) an elongated chamber having a chamber inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, and a gas flow path between said inlet and outlet ends;
• (b) means for flowing carrier gas supply for said chamber;
• (c) means for introducing sample gas into said chamber;
• (d) two electrodes spaced apart and located to produce short repeated high voltage pulsed DC current sparks within said chamber and across said gas flow path and wherein spark duration minimizes electrode erosion and permits observation of phenomena occurring at and between sparks;
• and
• (e) wherein ions are produced by the spark and by excited metastable species of the carrier gas.

Detecting apparatus comprising:

• (a) an elongate chamber having an inlet at one end and an outlet at its other end, and a gas flow path between said inlet and outlet;
• (b) spaced discharge electrodes disposed within said chamber to form an electrical discharge gap between such electrodes in said gas flow path of said chamber;
• (c) means for flowing a sample gas with a carrier gas through said gas flow path of said chamber;
• (d) means for periodically and repetitively applying DC current discharges across said discharge gap of said spaced electrodes in the path of said sample gas and said carrier gas thereby changing the atomic state of said sample gas and carrier gas;
• and
• (e) means for measuring a characteristic of the changed atomic state of said sample gas.

A method of measuring a characteristic of a gas sample comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing an elongate chamber having an inlet at one end and an outlet at its other end and a gas flow path between said inlet and outlet, with spaced discharge electrodes disposed within said chamber to form an electrical discharge gap between such electrodes in said gas flow path of said chamber;
• (b) flowing a sample gas with a carrier gas through said gas flow path of said chamber;
• (c) repetitively applying pulsed DC current discharges across said discharge gap in the path of said sample gas and said carrier gas thereby changing the atomic state of said sample gas;
• and
• (d) measuring a characteristic of the charged atomic state of said sample gas.