System for delivering a substantially constant vapor flow to a chemical process reactor

A vapor delivery system for delivering a substantially constant flow of a vapor-phase reactant to a chemical process reactor, comprising:

• a. a source of a reactant material;
• b. means for converting said reactant material to a vapor and for maintaining a predetermined volume of said vapor in a vapor phase;
• c. flow control means for providing a controlled flow of said vapor to said process reactor, wherein said flow control means includes a fluid flow sensor, a control valve for controlling fluid flow through said sensor, and control circuitry for controlling the operation of said control valve, and wherein said control valve includes means for providing at least one detectable output signal representative of the conductance of said control valve;
• and
• d. means responsive to said signal for controlling the delivery of said reactant material to said vapor converting means so as to ensure delivery of said vapor to said flow control means within a range of acceptable temperatures and pressures, and to said process reactor at a substantially constant flow rate.

A vapor delivery system for delivering a substantially constant flow of a vapor-phase reactant to a chemical process reactor, said system comprising:

• a. a source of a reactant material;
• b. means for converting said reactant material to a vapor and for maintaining a predetermined volume of said vapor in a vapor phase;
• c. flow control means for providing a controlled flow of said vapor to said chemical process reactor;
• d. means for detecting a parameter related to the availability of the vapor-phase reactant to said process reactor from said flow control means and for providing a detection signal representative of said parameter;
• and
• e. means, responsive to said detection signal, for controlling the delivery of said reactant material to said vapor converting means so as to ensure delivery of said vapor to said flow control means within an acceptable range of temperatures and pressures, and to said process reactor at a substantially constant flow rate.