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US 5,550,062 AGranted
Method and apparatus for chemical detection by pyrolysis
AssigneeMicrosensor Systems, Inc.
InventorsHenry Wohltjen, Edward J. Poziomek
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Abstract
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting and identifying a non-volatile chemical substance, in which the chemical substance (when in a sample) is pyrolyzed into its gaseous components and then the gaseous components are monitored to determine whether or not specific gaseous components are present.
Claims15
A method for determining the amount of a non-volatile chemical substance of interest present in a sample, which comprises the steps of:
- (a) introducing said sample into a pyrolysis zone;
- (b) subjecting said sample to an elevated temperature no more than 300.degree. C. such that any sample is pyrolyzed to yield a pyrolysis product;
- (c) extracting an amount of atmospheric gaseous material from said pyrolysis zone, and introducing said amount of gaseous material into a detection zone, where said amount is contacted with a sensing apparatus which selectively senses the presence of a product of the pyrolysis of said chemical substance and produces a sensor pattern signal representative of the results of such sensing;
- and
- (d) analyzing the signal produced due to sensing of said atmospheric gaseous materials to indicate the presence and amount of said chemical substance of interest in the sample.
2 more elements
A method for determining the amount of a non-volatile chemical substance of interest present in a sample, which comprises the steps of:
- (a) introducing said sample into a pyrolysis zone;
- (b) extracting a first amount of atmospheric gaseous material from said zone;
- (c) introducing said first amount into a detection zone, where said first amount is contacted with a sensing apparatus which selectively senses the presence of a product of the pyrolysis of said chemical substance and produced a signal representative of the results of such sensing;
- (d) subjecting said sample to an elevated temperature less than 300.degree. C. such that any of said chemical substance of interest present in the sample is pyrolyzed to yield a pyrolysis product;
- (e) extracting a second amount of atmospheric gaseous material from said pyrolysis zone, and introducing said second amount of gaseous material into a detection zone, where said second amount is contacted with a sensing apparatus, such that when said pyrolysis product is present it is selectively sensed and said apparatus produces a signal representative of the results of such sensing;
- and
- (f) comparing the respective signals produced due to sensing of said first and second amounts of atmospherics gaseous material as an indication of the amount of said chemical substance of interest present in the sample.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.