System and method for chemical and/or biological detection
AssigneeDesign West Technologies, Inc.
InventorsPoliang Chien, Dheeraj Jain, Kelley Lowery, Ryan Hur
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Abstract
A method and system for detecting the presence of chemical and/or biological agents are disclosed. An additive, which may comprise a reactant and/or a catalyst selected for its capacity to react with, or to force a reaction involving a target chemical and/or biological agent, may be introduced into a sample of an ambient environment to be monitored. The additive may then react with the target agent, or, as a catalyst, may drive a reaction with the target agent, resulting in a reaction product that may be detected by one or more sensors or sensor arrays. The method and system may incorporate a plurality of sensor types in order to enhance the specificity of the method and system.
Claims12
A system for detecting the presence of chemical and/or biological agents, comprising:
- a first flow path in communication with an ambient air environment;
- a second flow path in communication with said ambient air environment;
- a first sensor array connected to said first flow path so as to sense gaseous contents of said first flow path;
- said first sensor array comprising a first sensor type and a second sensor type, each of which configured to sense a chemical or biological agent;
- a second sensor array connected to said second flow path so as to sense gaseous contents of said second flow path;
- said second sensor array comprising said first sensor type and said second sensor type;
- a first additive reservoir containing a first additive selected from a reactant, selective absorber, and a catalyst;
- said first additive reservoir being connected to and in communication with said first flow path, upstream of said first sensor array;
- and,
- an instrumentation package electrically connected to said first sensor array and said second sensor array;
- said instrumentation package simultaneously measuring with said first sensor type and said second sensor type from both of said first sensor array and said second sensor array;
- and said instrumentation package monitoring for a divergence between sensor readings from said first sensor type and sensor readings from said second sensor type;
- wherein said first sensor type includes amide-functionalized carbon nanotubes and said second sensor type includes octadecylamine-functionalized carbon nanotubes.
A system for detecting the presence of chemical and/or biological agents, comprising:
- a first flow path in communication with an ambient air environment;
- a second flow path in communication with said ambient air environment;
- a first sensor array connected to said first flow path so as to sense gaseous contents of said first flow path;
- a second sensor array connected to said second flow path so as to sense gaseous contents of said second flow path;
- a first additive reservoir containing a first additive selected from a reactant, selective absorber, and a catalyst;
- said first additive reservoir being connected to and in communication with said first flow path, upstream of said first sensor array;
- and,
- an instrumentation package electrically connected to said first sensor array and said second sensor array;
- wherein said first sensor array contains a first plurality of sensors that measure the same chemical or biological agents of a second plurality of sensors in said second sensor array;
- wherein said instrumentation package simultaneously measures with said first plurality of sensors and said second plurality of sensors from both of said first sensor array and said second sensor array;
- and,
- wherein said first plurality of sensors and said second plurality of sensors include a first sensor type of amide-functionalized carbon nanotubes and a second sensor type of octadecylamine-functionalized carbon nanotubes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.