A RUGGED STABLE FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED INTERFEROMETER FOR PROCESS MONITORING

INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS ARE NEEDED IN ADVANCED ON-LINE SENSORS FOR APPLICATION IN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS LEADING TO DECREASED ENERGY CONSUMPTION, BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, BETTER QUALITY CONTROL, AND INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY IN U.S. INDUSTRY. DURING THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FT-IR) SPECTROSCOPY HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS AN IMPORTANT NEW TOOL TO OBTAIN SPECIES COMPOSITION, CONCENTRATIONS, AND TEMPERATURE DATA IN PROCESS MONITORING. IF FT-IR IS TO REALIZE ITS POTENTIAL IN PROCESS MONITORING, IMPROVEMENTS MUST BE MADE IN MECHANICAL STABILITY, THERMAL STABILITY, RUGGEDNESS, SIZE, WEIGHT, COST, AND SERVICEABILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADVANCED PROCESS FT-IR BASED ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL ALLOW IT TO HAVE THE REQUIRED PROPERTIES FOR PROCESS MONITORING. THE TECHNOLOGY IS THE SUBJECT OF FOUR PATENT APPLICATIONS. THE PHASE I TESTS ARE DETERMINING VIBRATION TOLERANCE, RUGGEDNESS, ENERGY THROUGHPUT, POTENTIAL SPEED, AND POTENTIAL MAXIMUM RESOLUTION, AMONG OTHER PROPERTIES. A PROTOTYPE WILL BE DESIGNED ON THE BASIS OF THESE RESULTS.