CARBON NANOTUBE DEWPOINT AND ICE CONDITION SENSOR

• US 20110167894A1
• Filed: 09/08/2009
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Research Foundation for The State University of New York (State University of New York)
• Original Assignee: The Research Foundation for The State University of New York (State University of New York)
• Inventors: Samuilov, Vladimir
• Granted Patent: US 9,086,363 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/25.05
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/121 for determining moisture content, e.g. humidity, of the fluid moisture content of the tested material G01N27/048
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/127 comprising nanoparticles

Abstract

Disclosed is a devvpoinl and icing condition detection apparatus that includes a sensor, a signal conditioner and a data acquisition device. The sensor is a carbon nanotube sensor having a resistance that varies in proportion to a change in humidity of a gas flow across the sensor.

Claims

1. A dewpoint detection apparatus comprising:

a sensor;

a signal conditioner; and

a data acquisition device,

wherein the sensor includes a carbon nanotube sensor having a resistance that varies in proportion to a change in humidity of a gas flow across the sensor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotube sensor is placed in the gas flow being measured.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resistance variation of the carbon nanotube of the sensor accelerates at high dewpoints.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor measures a dewpoint range of −

80°

C. to +20°

C.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor detects moisture in a hydrocarbon gas or liquid.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor detects moisture in a non-hydrocarbon gas.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor detects a dewpoint of the gas by scanning temperature from +30°

C. to −

100°

C., measuring resistance during the scan, and comparing the measured resistance of the CNT sensor to a predetermined peak resistance of the CNT sensor.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor detects an icing condition by scanning a temperature of the gas, measuring resistance of the CNT sensor during the scan, and comparing the measured resistance of the CNT sensor to a predetermined resistance of the CNT sensor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a baseline drift adjuster to restore a base resistance value changed by moisture accumulation in the carbon nanotube.