HAND-HELD SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTION OF CONTAMINANTS IN A LIQUID
First Claim
1. A method for detecting contaminants in a liquid, said method comprising:
- filling at least a portion of a sample container interior chamber with a liquid sample;
submerging a sensor probe of a hand-held portable sensing device in a liquid sample;
sensing an electrical conductivity of the liquid sample utilizing at least one conductivity sensor attached to the submerged sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to a controller of the hand-held portable sensing device;
automatically selecting, based on the sensed conductivity, a particular one of a plurality of contaminant concentration detection (CCD) algorithms stored on the memory device of the hand-held portable sensing device;
setting a sensitivity of at least one ionic species sensor to a sensitivity level particular to the selected CCD algorithm, each CCD algorithm configured to implement a particular sensitivity setting associated with the respective CCD algorithm, the at least one ionic species sensor attached to the submerged sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to the controller of the hand-held portable sensing device;
sensing non-desired contaminants in the liquid sample utilizing the at least one ionic species sensor set to the particular sensitivity level; and
determining a concentration of the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample in accordance with the selected CCD algorithm.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for detecting contaminants in a liquid is provided. The method can include filling at least a portion of a sample container interior chamber with a liquid sample and submerging a sensor probe of a hand-held portable sensing device in a liquid sample. The method can additionally include sensing an electrical conductivity of the liquid sample utilizing at least one conductivity sensor and automatically selecting a particular one of a plurality of contaminant concentration detection (CCD) algorithms based on the sensed conductivity. The method can further include setting a sensitivity of at least one ionic species sensor to a sensitivity level particular to the selected CCD algorithm and sensing non-desired contaminants in the liquid sample utilizing the at least one ionic species sensor. A concentration of the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample is then determined in accordance with the selected CCD algorithm.
19 Citations
34 Claims
-
1. A method for detecting contaminants in a liquid, said method comprising:
-
filling at least a portion of a sample container interior chamber with a liquid sample; submerging a sensor probe of a hand-held portable sensing device in a liquid sample; sensing an electrical conductivity of the liquid sample utilizing at least one conductivity sensor attached to the submerged sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to a controller of the hand-held portable sensing device; automatically selecting, based on the sensed conductivity, a particular one of a plurality of contaminant concentration detection (CCD) algorithms stored on the memory device of the hand-held portable sensing device; setting a sensitivity of at least one ionic species sensor to a sensitivity level particular to the selected CCD algorithm, each CCD algorithm configured to implement a particular sensitivity setting associated with the respective CCD algorithm, the at least one ionic species sensor attached to the submerged sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to the controller of the hand-held portable sensing device; sensing non-desired contaminants in the liquid sample utilizing the at least one ionic species sensor set to the particular sensitivity level; and determining a concentration of the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample in accordance with the selected CCD algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A hand-held, portable system for detection of contaminants in a liquid, said system comprising:
-
a sample container for retaining a liquid sample; and a hand-held portable sensing device at least partially submersible into the liquid sample and operable for determining a concentration of a non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample, the hand-held portable sensing comprising; at least one conductivity sensor for sensing an electrical conductivity of the liquid sample, at least one ionic species sensor for sensing the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample, and a controller electrically connected to the at least one conductivity sensor and the at least one ionic species sensor, the controller including; a processor, and a computer readable memory device having stored thereon a contaminant concentration detection (CCD) algorithm selection routine executable by the processor to determine an electrical conductivity value of the liquid sample and, based on the determined conductivity value, instruct the processor to execute a particular one of a plurality of CCD algorithms stored on the memory device, each respective CCD algorithm configured to determine a concentration of the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample using a respective different sensitivity setting for the at least one ionic species sensor. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method for detecting contaminants in a liquid, said method comprising:
-
submerging a sensor probe of a hand-held portable sensing device in a liquid sample retained within a sample container; sensing an electrical conductivity of the liquid sample utilizing a conductivity sensor attached to the sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to a controller of the hand-held portable sensing device; automatically selecting, based on the sensed conductivity, a particular one of a plurality of contaminant concentration detection (CCD) algorithms stored on the memory device of the hand-held portable sensing device; setting a sensitivity of each of a plurality of sensors in an ionic species sensor array to a sensitivity level particular to the selected CCD algorithm, each CCD algorithm configured to implement a particular sensitivity setting associated with the respective CCD algorithm, the at least one ionic species sensor attached to the sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to the controller of the hand-held portable sensing device; sensing a temperature of the liquid sample utilizing a temperature sensor attached to the sensor probe of the hand-held portable sensing device and electrically connected to the controller; sensing non-desired contaminants in the liquid sample utilizing ionic species sensor array having each sensor set to the particular sensitivity level; and determining a concentration of the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample in accordance with the selected CCD algorithm utilizing non-desired contaminants readings from the ionic species sensor array and temperature readings from the temperature sensor. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
Specification