Patent ID: 6474354
Filing Date: 2002-11-05
Classification: G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for controlling a characteristic of a colloidal mixture comprising the steps of:providing a colloidal mixture for analysis by thermal difference spectroscopy; determining a value indicative of the characteristic of the colloidal mixture by the steps of: irradiating at least a first portion of the colloidal mixture with light in an ultraviolet-visible region at a first temperature and obtaining a first measurement of a first wavelength within the ultraviolet-visible region, said first measurement for obtaining a measure of one of an absorption, emission and scattering of the first wavelength when said colloidal mixture is irradiated with the light, waiting for the temperature of the colloidal mixture to change, irradiating at least a second portion of the colloidal mixture with light in an ultraviolet-visible region at a second different temperature and obtaining a second measurement of the first wavelength within the ultraviolet-visible region, said second measurement for obtaining a measure of one of an absorption, emission and scattering of the first wavelength when said colloidal mixture is irradiated with the light, and determining the value indicative of the characteristic of the colloidal mixture from a relationship including the first measurement and the second measurement; determining, in dependence upon the determined value, an adjustment to at least a variable of a control process for affecting at least a characteristic of the colloidal mixture; providing a feedback signal in dependence upon the determined adjustment to an automated controller of the control process; and adjusting automatically the variable of the control process in dependence upon the provided feedback signal.