Compact handheld non-laser detector for greenhouse gasses
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorRalph Henry Hill, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques are disclosed relating to gas leak detection. The techniques can be deployed, for example, in compact, handheld portable devices usable for detecting leaks in space-confined applications. The devices generally include a non-laser light source and thermal imaging camera that allow for detection of a target gas (or gasses) that absorbs at least some of the light source's wavelengths of operation. The light source can be implemented, for example, with an incoherent infrared (IR) light source, such as a resonance lamp configured with a gas cell containing a volume of a gas that, when excited by electric discharge, emits a wavelength that is absorbed by the target gas.
Claims9
A gas leak imaging method, comprising:
- supplying a laser;
- modifying said laser to produce a non-laser incoherent light source, wherein said modifying comprises:
- replacing an output mirror of said laser with a transmitting window;
- and
- replacing a gaseous lasing medium of said laser with a resonance gas capable of emitting radiation that is in resonance with absorption lines of a target gas and wherein at least one wavelength is in the range of 10.5 to 10.7 microns;
- providing a light beam from said non-laser incoherent light source, said light beam having said at least one wavelength that is absorbable by said target gas;
- providing a thermal imaging camera having a field of view and for imaging absorption of said at least one wavelength by said target gas;
- and
- containing said non-laser incoherent light source and said thermal imaging camera in a handheld housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.