Claims
- 1. A self-contained system for generating a dilute agent vapor of desired concentration for use in calibrating and testing the sensitivity of an agent point-source alarm by the agent vapor consisting essentially of an air supply source for providing an air flow to the system; valves for regulating said air flow; a drierite column and charcoal filtering means for purifying said air flow; a flowmeter to regulate the flow of said purified air to a bubbler means, the bubbler means containing a dilute liquid agent solution through which said air flow is bubbled to produce an agent vapor; cooling means attached to said bubbler for maintaining the liquid agent solution within the bubbler at a constant temperature; a interconnected means for adding a regulated flow of air to said agent vapor to produce a dilute agent vapor of desired concentration and a means for flowing said dilute agent vapor from the system to a point-source agent alarm.
- 2. The system of claim 1 further including an in-line orifice for limiting the air flow from the air supply source to the drierite column and charcoal filtering means.
- 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the cooling means is an ice-bath container in which the bubbler is disposed.
- 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the air supply source is an air pump.
- 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the air supply source is a compressed air tank.
- 6. A method for generating a low, stable concentration of agent vapor within a fast equilibration time for use in calibrating and testing the sensitivity of a agent alarm system comprising the steps of providing a source of air to a system for generating a dilute agent vapor, the system including the steps of regulating the flow of said air to a bubbler by means of valves and an air flowmeter; flowing the air through a charcoal filter and a drierite column to filter said air; flowing the filtered air through the flowmeter to provide a constant flow of air to the bubbler; bubbling the air through a dilute agent solution within the bubbler to produce an agent vapor; diluting the agent vapor eluted from the bubbler by adding a regulated flow of air to said agent vapor to produce a dilute agent vapor of desired concentration and subsequently introducing said dilute agent vapor into the agent alarm.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the steps of providing air to the bubbler and the step of diluting the agent vapor by adding a regulated flow of air utilizes air provided by a single air supply source.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the air supply source is selected from the group consisting of a air pump means, a compressed air tank and a house-air line.
- 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the air supply source is an air pump.
- 10. The method of claim 6 wherein the solution within the agent bubbler is a dilute isopropyl methyl phosphonofluoridate (GB) solution in hexylene glycol.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the agent is present in a 2% solution and the flow of air is regulated to give a dilute agent vapor concentration of approximately 1 mg/liter.
DEDICATORY CLAUSE
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.
US Referenced Citations (6)