Apparatus for counting particles in a gas
AssigneeMSP Corporation
InventorsBenjamin Y. H. Liu, Thuc M. Dinh, William D. Dick, Aaron M. Collins, Francisco J. Romay
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Abstract
The present disclosure describes a method and apparatus for detecting particles in a gas by saturating the gas with vapor and causing the gas to flow through a chamber with walls that are at a temperature different than the temperature of the entering gas creating a gas turbulence within the chamber resulting in the gas becoming super-saturated with vapor and causing said super-saturated vapor to condense on said particles and form droplets, which are then detected and counted by an optical light-scattering detector.
Claims10
An apparatus for condensing vapor on particles to form droplets for detection, said apparatus comprising:
- a chamber with an inlet, the inlet positioned in a first side wall of the chamber and the inlet orientated to create a gas jet impinging on a second, opposing chamber in a substantially perpendicular direction, the chamber being capable of being held at a first temperature and for accepting gas passing through the inlet, the gas being at a second temperature, different from the first temperature, the gas entering the chamber such that the difference between the first temperature and the second temperature will cause the gas upon turbulent mixing to produce a super-saturated vapor atmosphere for condensation on said particles to form droplets, said chamber including an outlet for said gas to flow through and exit, the outlet positioned on top of the chamber, thereby carrying said droplets so formed in said chamber for detection by a droplet detector located downstream.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.