Nanotechnology Revolutionizes Moisture Measurement in Gases |
(Archive News Story - Products mentioned in this Archive News Story may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
Phymetrix Inc
28 C Industrial blvd
Medford, NY, 11763
USA
Press release date: April 28, 2010
Nanoscience involves the study of materials where some critical property is attributed an internal structure with at least one dimension less than 100nm (nanometer). Many physical phenomenons are governed by a characteristic length, if the physical scale of the material falls below this length properties change drastically. For example, it has been proven that materials with crystalline cell dimensions in the nanometer range exhibit improved: tensile strength, bond strength, fatigue strength, hardness, wear resistance, crack growth resistance, capillary action. Many researchers, including PhyMetrix, tackle Nanoscience with the goal of transforming it into a practical technology, such as Carbon Nanofibers, Cu Nanowires, Nanostructure PLGA Scaffolding, Nanopore Metal Oxide,and many more.
However, when measuring very low moisture content such as parts per billion of water molecules in the gas, repeatable measurements are difficult to perform if the pores contain the same proportion of water to gas as the surrounding gas. To alleviate this problem, PhyMetrix has developed a nanopore geometry with capillary action towards water molecules. This unique structure creates equilibrium between the inside and outside of these pores such that the concentration of water molecules inside the pores is exponentially proportional to the concentration of water molecules outside the pores. Thus, the capacitance change due to a small change in water molecule content in the gas is significant enough to produce a repeatable measurement.
A positive side effect of this geometry produces a very quick response time to changes in the water vapor content in the gas. It is well known in measurement science that almost everything is affected by change of temperature, so is this technique affected by temperature. The main factors are: the dielectric constant of water changes with temperature greatly as does the capillary action effect of the nanopores changes with temperature. The PhyMetrix analyzers are equipped with temperature sensors performing temperature compensation of these factors in order to correct the measurement. Since these sensors measure partial water vapor pressure of the gas, the total pressure of the gas must be known in order to compute and display a useful water vapor content number. The PhyMetrix analyzers can be optionally equipped with a pressure sensor which measures the overall gas pressure allowing the software to automatically compute the measured dewpoint or parts per billion water content; alternatively the user can enter a default pressure and always perform the measurement at that specific pressure e.g. atmospheric.The ability of the sensor to attract large amount of water molecules when the moisture content is very low (e.g. parts per billion), creates a sensor capable of very reproducible fast responding measurements at dewpoints as low as -110°Cdp. The response time is further enhanced in the PhyMetrix portable instruments by the desiccant sensor storage mechanism.
Contact: Deborah Bedrossian
Phymetrix Inc, Vice President 28C Industrial blvd, Medford, New York 11763, 631-903-2547
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