US4226675A — Method and apparatus for monitoring and measuring…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 329 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases from a nuclear reactor pressure vessel comprising a compartment maintained at a preselected temperature, gas inlet means located outside of the compartment for continuously receiving a sample of gas to be monitored from a gas sample source and continuously conveying the sample to said compartment so as to continuously maintain the gas sample at said preselected temperature, while being conveyed through said compartment to thereby maintain the concentration of the mixed gases of the gas sample source, means located within the compartment for continuously receiving the gas from the inlet means and for continuously separating out a relatively small portion of the gas sample for measurement purposes, thermal conductivity gas sensing means arranged within said compartment for continuously measuring and signalling the quantity of a preselected, known gas in the gas sample, means for continuously conveying said small portion of the gas sample to said sensing means, catalytic reaction means arranged within said compartment for continuously altering one of the gas constituents in the gas sample conveyed therethrough, means for continuously conveying said small portion of the gas sample to said reaction means. means for continously conveying the reacted, sensed gas from said reaction means through said sensing means, means arranged within said compartment for continuously receiving the small portion of measured gas from said sensing means for maintaining a substantially constant mass flow of gas through said sensing means, means for continuously rendering said sensing means independent of the pressure of the gas received from said source, means arranged outside of said compartment for cooling gas, and means for continously conveying the remaining portion of the unmeasured gas from said separation means to the gas cooling means, and gas outlet means for continuously combining and conveying the cooled gas with the measured gas portions received from the constant mass flow control means for continuous conveyance back to the gas sample source.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 329 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases from a nuclear reactor pressure vessel comprising a compartment maintained at a preselected temperature, gas inlet means located outside of the compartment for continuously receiving a sample of gas to be monitored from a gas sample source and continuously conveying the sample to said compartment so as to continuously maintain the gas sample at said preselected temperature, while being conveyed through said compartment to thereby maintain the concentration of the mixed gases of the gas sample source, means located within the compartment for continuously receiving the gas from the inlet means and for continuously separating out a relatively small portion of the gas sample for measurement purposes, thermal conductivity gas sensing means arranged within said compartment for continuously measuring and signalling the quantity of a preselected, known gas in the gas sample, means for continuously conveying said small portion of the gas sample to said sensing means, catalytic reaction means arranged within said compartment for continuously altering one of the gas constituents in the gas sample conveyed therethrough, means for continuously conveying said small portion of the gas sample to said reaction means. means for continously conveying the reacted, sensed gas from said reaction means through said sensing means, means arranged within said compartment for continuously receiving the small portion of measured gas from said sensing means for maintaining a substantially constant mass flow of gas through said sensing means, means for continuously rendering said sensing means independent of the pressure of the gas received from said source, means arranged outside of said compartment for cooling gas, and means for continously conveying the remaining portion of the unmeasured gas from said separation means to the gas cooling means, and gas outlet means for continuously combining and conveying the cooled gas with the measured gas portions received from the constant mass flow control means for continuous conveyance back to the gas sample source.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 45 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 1 wherein said gas sensing means comprises a pair of gas sensing means for individually sensing a different, known gas in the gas sample.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 53 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 2 wherein one of said gas continuously senses means sensing the oxygen, content of the gas sample and the other gas sensing means continuously senses the hydrogen content of the gas sample.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 41 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 1 including means arranged with said outlet means for continuously maintaining a pressure differential between said inlet and outlet means.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 40 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 1 including gas pumping means arranged between the outlet end of the outlet means and said pressure differential means.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 56 words

Apparatus for continuously monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 1 wherein the compartment is maintained at a temperature for preventing the condensation of any steam present in the gas sample while being conveyed therein and thereby prevent altering the gas content of the sample.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 71 words

Apparatus for monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 3 wherein said oxygen gas sensing means includes means for continuously supplying a preselected quantity of hydrogen gas to said sensing means in combination with the gas sample to thereby cause the oxygen in the sample to be reacted out at said reaction means with a portion of the supplied hydrogen.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 62 words

Apparatus for monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 1 wherein said gas sensing means comprises means for defining temperature controlled cavities to permit a gas to flow therethrough and an individual self-heating filament arranged in each of the cavities for responding to the heat energy conducted by the gas sample.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 65 words

Apparatus for monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 8 wherein said filaments are arranged in separate arms of an electrical bridge circuit and the bridge circuit is initially maintained in a balanced bridge condition, and including means for signalling an unbalanced bridge condition resulting from a gas sample having different gases mixed therein.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 47 words

Apparatus for monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 9 wherein said gas sensing means is a hydrogen gas sensing means and the reaction means converts the hydrogen in the sample conveyed therethrough to water vapor.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 59 words

Apparatus for monitoring and signalling the quantity of a preselected gas in a mixture of gases as defined in claim 9 including means for conveying the same, unmodified, gas past each filament of the gas sensing means and means for adjusting the bridge circuit when the same gas is conveyed past the filaments for defining a balanced bridge condition.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1983-10-07	1984-04-07	1984-10-07	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1987-10-07	1988-04-07	1988-10-07	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1991-10-07	1992-04-07	1992-10-07	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method and apparatus for monitoring and measuring a gas

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