Speciation, Identification and Quantification of Atmospheric Gases

Accurate speciation and measurement of the composition of air environments in Navy submersibles is vital to crew safety and health. This proposal focuses on the development of a detection system specifically for collection, speciation, identification and quantification of gas phase chemicals found aboard submersibles. The proposed hybrid sensor system will be approximately 1/10 the size and cost of traditional bench top analytical instruments and will be capable of unmanned sample collection and battery-powered operation without compressed gas. We believe no single chemical detector technology will be able to serve the solicited detection requirements. The proposed system will utilize multiple sensor technologies to meet the requirements of the solicitation, including chemicapacitive, metal-oxide, and electrochemical sensors integrated with a preconcentration/chromatography system; thus combining selectivity from a diverse array of sensors with a miniature sampling system for amplified sensitivity. Specific components include: a vapor collection pump, a gas sampling loop, sample preconcentrator capable of quick heating and in stages, capillary column for separating chemicals released from the preconcentrator, providing selectivity, integrated array of chemical sensors including chemoselective chemicapacitors, chemiresistive metal-oxides, and electrochemical sensors, and integrated touch screen computer.