IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0414970
(2012-03-08)
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등록번호 |
US-8850905
(2014-10-07)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
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출원인 / 주소 |
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대리인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
12 |
초록
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An automated sampler for sampling contaminants that are dissolved in water. An empty, sealed first vial is placed at a first sampling station with a dual-port needle, and a mechanical syringe pump displaces a programmable volume of gas from the first vial. A sealed second vial having a field sample
An automated sampler for sampling contaminants that are dissolved in water. An empty, sealed first vial is placed at a first sampling station with a dual-port needle, and a mechanical syringe pump displaces a programmable volume of gas from the first vial. A sealed second vial having a field sample of water with dissolved contaminants, typically without a headspace region, is placed at a second sampling station, with a dual-port needle. The syringe pump extracts an aqueous volume from the second vial, then transfers the aqueous volume into the first vial. This is all done without exposing the field sample to any external gasses or other compounds, and without opening the seal of the field sample to atmosphere. The sample in the first vial is heated, and an aliquot of headspace from the first vial is then injected into an analyzer device for identification and quantification.
대표청구항
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1. A method for sampling dissolved contaminants in liquid, said method comprising: (a) providing a sampling system, having: (i) a first vial having a first seal, said first vial containing a first gas;(ii) a first needle subassembly having a first port and a second port proximal to a distal tip;(iii
1. A method for sampling dissolved contaminants in liquid, said method comprising: (a) providing a sampling system, having: (i) a first vial having a first seal, said first vial containing a first gas;(ii) a first needle subassembly having a first port and a second port proximal to a distal tip;(iii) a second vial having a second seal, said second vial being substantially filled with a liquid sample that contains dissolved contaminants;(iv) a second needle subassembly having a third port and a fourth port proximal to a distal tip;(v) a syringe having a movable plunger, said syringe having a displacement volume that is bounded by said movable plunger and by an outer wall of said syringe;(vi) a source of gas pressure;(vii) a waste outlet;(viii) a sample outlet;(ix) a plurality of fluidic passageways between said first port of the first needle subassembly, said second port of the first needle subassembly, said third port of the second needle subassembly, said fourth port of the second needle subassembly, said source of gas pressure, said displacement volume of the syringe, said sample outlet, and said waste outlet;(x) a plurality of automatically controlled valves that are in communication with said plurality of fluidic passageways and which, for a predetermined operating mode, establish at least one fluidic pathway of said plurality of fluidic passageways; and(xi) a system controller that determines one of said predetermined operating modes for controlling said plurality of automatically controlled valves;(b) using said first needle subassembly, piercing said first seal of said first vial;(c) using said movable plunger of the syringe, drawing a predetermined first volume of said first gas from said first vial, and evacuating said first volume of the first gas to said waste outlet, thereby establishing a partial vacuum condition inside said first vial;(d) using said second needle subassembly, piercing said second seal of said second vial;(e) using said movable plunger of the syringe, drawing a predetermined second volume of said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants from said second vial, and transferring said second volume of the liquid sample with dissolved contaminants into said first vial, wherein said first volume is substantially equal to said second volume, so that contents of said first vial now are not substantially under pressure or under vacuum conditions;(f) partitioning said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants into a headspace region of said first vial, thereby allowing at least a portion of said dissolved contaminants to enter said headspace region as headspace region vapor; and(g) transferring an aliquot of said headspace region vapor to said sample outlet. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said second vial contains a field sample. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said first needle subassembly and said second needle subassembly comprises one of: (a) a dual-port concentric needle; and (b) a dual-port non-concentric needle; and (c) two single port needles. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of: substantially evacuating said first gas from said first vial by sweeping an interior volume of said first vial with an inert gas, before step (c) of claim 1. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: equilibrating said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants in said first vial, during step (f) of claim 1. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said source of gas pressure provides the impetus to displace said second volume of the liquid sample with dissolved contaminants from said second vial, in step (e) of claim 1. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises: (i) during a first mode of operation, increasing said displacement volume by moving said plunger of the syringe in a first direction, thereby drawing said second volume of the liquid sample with dissolved contaminants from the second vial into said syringe;(ii) using said system controller, switching at least one of said plurality of automatically controlled valves to a different logic state, to enter a second mode of operation; and(iii) during said second mode of operation, decreasing said displacement volume by moving said plunger of the syringe in a second direction that is opposite to said first direction, thereby transferring said second volume of the liquid sample with dissolved contaminants from said syringe and into said first vial. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein: a position of said plunger is automatically controlled by a stepper motor, which receives control signals from said system controller. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein: (a) said first vial is selected by a gripper from a plurality of empty vials positioned on a tray, and(b) a position of said gripper is automatically controlled by a plurality of stepper motors, which receive control signals from said system controller. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants substantially comprises: water with at least one of: (a) dissolved natural gas, (b) dissolved methane, (c) dissolved ethylene, and (d) dissolved ethane. 11. A method for sampling liquids, said method comprising: (a) providing a sampling system, having: (i) a first vial having a first seal, said first vial containing a first gas;(ii) a first needle subassembly having a first port and a second port proximal to a distal tip;(iii) a second vial having a second seal, said second vial being substantially filled with a liquid sample;(iv) a second needle subassembly having a third port and a fourth port proximal to a distal tip;(v) a syringe having a movable plunger, said syringe having a displacement volume that is bounded by said movable plunger and by an outer wall of said syringe;(vi) a source of gas pressure;(vii) a waste outlet;(viii) a sample outlet;(ix) a plurality of fluidic passageways between said first port of the first needle subassembly, said second port of the first needle subassembly, said third port of the second needle subassembly, said fourth port of the second needle subassembly, said source of gas pressure, said displacement volume of the syringe, said sample outlet, and said waste outlet;(x) a plurality of automatically controlled valves that are in communication with said plurality of fluidic passageways and which, for a predetermined operating mode, establish at least one fluidic pathway of said plurality of fluidic passageways; and(xi) a system controller that determines one of said predetermined operating modes for controlling said plurality of automatically controlled valves;(b) placing said first vial in a first position at said sampling system;(c) using said first needle subassembly, piercing said first seal of said first vial;(d) maintaining a sample integrity at said first seal by holding both said first needle subassembly and said first vial in their relative positions until after step (m) is completed;(e) using said movable plunger of the syringe, drawing a first volume of said first gas from said first vial, thereby establishing a partial vacuum condition inside said first vial;(f) using said movable plunger of the syringe, evacuating said first volume of the first gas to said waste outlet;(g) placing said second vial in a second position at said sampling system;(h) using said second needle subassembly, piercing said second seal of said second vial;(i) maintaining a sample integrity at said second seal by holding both said second needle subassembly and said second vial in their relative positions until after step (j) is completed;(j) using said movable plunger of the syringe, drawing a second volume of said liquid sample from said second vial;(k) using said movable plunger of the syringe, transferring said second volume of the liquid sample into said first vial;(l) partitioning said liquid sample into a headspace region of said first vial, thereby allowing at least a portion of said liquid sample to enter said headspace region as headspace region vapor; and(m) transferring an aliquot of said headspace region vapor to said sample outlet. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said second vial contains a field sample. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of said first needle subassembly and said second needle subassembly comprises one of: (a) a dual-port concentric needle; and (b) a dual-port non-concentric needle; and (c) two single port needles. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein said liquid sample contains dissolved gasses, at least some of which are partitioned into said headspace region as headspace region vapor in step (l) of claim 11. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said liquid sample with dissolved gasses substantially comprises: water with at least one of: (a) dissolved natural gas, (b) dissolved methane gas, (c) dissolved ethylene gas, and (d) dissolved ethane gas. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein said dissolved gasses within said liquid sample are not lost to atmosphere during the sampling process of steps (a) through (m), because: (i) said first seal of the first vial is not pierced more than once during said sampling process;(ii) said second seal of the second vial is not removed during said sampling process; and(iii) said second seal of the second vial is not pierced more than once during said sampling process. 17. The method of claim 14, wherein said dissolved gasses within said liquid sample are not exposed to outside contaminants during the sampling process of steps (a) through (m), because: (i) said first seal of the first vial is not pierced more than once during said sampling process;(ii) said second seal of the second vial is not removed during said sampling process; and(iii) said second seal of the second vial is not pierced more than once during said sampling process. 18. The method of claim 11, wherein said liquid sample contains at least one volatile organic compound (VOC), at least some of which is partitioned into said headspace region as headspace region vapor in step (l) of claim 11. 19. A method for sampling dissolved contaminants in liquid, said method comprising: (a) providing a sampling system, having: (i) a first vial having a first seal, said first vial containing a first gas;(ii) a first needle subassembly having a first port and a second port proximal to a distal tip;(iii) a second vial having a second seal, said second vial being substantially filled with a liquid sample that contains dissolved contaminants;(iv) a second needle subassembly having a third port and a fourth port proximal to a distal tip;(v) a syringe having a movable plunger, said syringe having a displacement volume that is bounded by said movable plunger and by an outer wall of said syringe;(vi) a source of gas pressure;(vii) a waste outlet;(viii) a sample outlet;(ix) a container that holds an internal standard compound;(x) a plurality of fluidic passageways between said first port of the first needle subassembly, said second port of the first needle subassembly, said third port of the second needle subassembly, said fourth port of the second needle subassembly, said source of gas pressure, said displacement volume of the syringe, said sample outlet, said waste outlet, and said container holding an internal standard compound;(xi) a plurality of automatically controlled valves that are in communication with said plurality of fluidic passageways and which, for a predetermined operating mode, establish at least one fluidic pathway of said plurality of fluidic passageways; and(xii) a system controller that determines one of said predetermined operating modes for controlling said plurality of automatically controlled valves;(b) using said first needle subassembly, piercing said first seal of said first vial;(c) using said movable plunger of the syringe, drawing a first volume of said first gas from said first vial, thereby establishing a partial vacuum condition inside said first vial;(d) using said movable plunger of the syringe, evacuating said first volume of the first gas to said waste outlet;(e) using said second needle subassembly, piercing said second seal of said second vial;(f) using said movable plunger of the syringe, drawing a second volume of said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants from said second vial and into said displacement volume of the syringe;(g) using one of said plurality of automatically controlled valves, injected a third volume of said internal standard compound from said container into at least one of said plurality of fluidic passageways;(h) using said movable plunger of the syringe, transferring said second volume of the liquid sample with dissolved contaminants, along with said third volume of the internal standard compound, into said first vial;(i) partitioning said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants, and said internal standard compound, into a headspace region of said first vial, thereby allowing at least a portion of said dissolved contaminants and said internal standard compound to enter said headspace region as headspace region vapor; and(j) transferring an aliquot of said headspace region vapor and said internal standard compound to said sample outlet. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein said third volume is a predetermined amount of said internal standard compound, under the control of a user-selected value that is entered into a processing circuit with a memory circuit, of said system controller. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein said liquid sample with dissolved contaminants substantially comprises: water with at least one of: (a) dissolved natural gas, (b) dissolved methane, (c) dissolved ethylene, and (d) dissolved ethane.
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