IT IS PROPOSED TO UTILIZE A GAS DENSITY DETECTOR FOR PROFILING GASES ENCOUNTERED IN THE HELICOPTER ENVIRONMENT.

IT IS PROPOSED TO UTILIZE A GAS DENSITY DETECTOR FOR PROFILING GASES ENCOUNTERED IN THE HELICOPTER ENVIRONMENT. THE DETECTOR, COUPLED WITH AN APPROPRIATE GAS CHROMATOGRAPH COLUMN, HAS BEEN PROVED IN IDENTIFYING AND QUANTIFYING INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS IN COMPLEX GAS MIXTURES. THE GAS DENSITY DETECTOR GIVES A RESPONSE THAT IS A FUNCTION OF THE DIFFERENCE IN DENSITY OF THE SELECTED CARRIER GAS AND THE COMPONENT GAS. THIS FIXED RELATIONSHIP ALLOWS QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX MIXTURES WITHOUT CALIBRATION. IT IS PROPOSED THAT A SINGLE DETECTOR TYPE (GAS DENSITY DETECTOR) CAN BE USED TO PROFILE GASES ENCOUNTERED IN THE HELICOPTER ENVIRONMENT. THIS IS CONTRASTED TO MULTISENSOR DETECTORS. THE ATTENDANT BENEFITS OF A SINGLE DETECTOR TYPE COMPARED TO MULTISENSOR DETECTORS ARE OBVIOUS. IN ADDITION, THE PARTICULAR DETECTOR PROPOSED IS A PRIMARY INSTRUMENT. THE PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION IS DIFFERENTIAL DENSITY BETWEEN A KNOWN REFERENCE GAS AND THE COMPONENT GAS TO BE MEASURED. THIS IS A PRIMARY MEASUREMENT IN THE SAME SENSE AS A MANOMETER OR MERCURY BAROMETER.