Process and device for the continuous analysis of the composition of gases

Abstract: Process for the continuous analysis of the composition of gases, by means of a measuring head for determining the flow velocity and analysis equipment which is placed a distance away from the measuring head and is connected thereto by a sample line, a calibration gas being fed to the sample line at the measuring head, by means of which the transit time of the gases is determined, and by means of this transit time a phase shift is introduced during determining of the connection between the velocity of flow and the composition. According to the invention a series of calibration gas impulses are fed from the equipment, and the average transit time of the gases in the conditions prevailing locally at that moment is determined therewith, for the essentially continuous determination of the connection between the flow velocity and the composition. Device for carrying out the process comprising a measuring head (5) and analysis equipment (1) for determining the composition of the gases, provided with a source (7) of calibration gas in the analysis equipment (1), a calibration gas line (9) connected (at 11) to the sample line a short distance from the suction aperture thereof with the measuring head (5), means for maintaining the calibration gas under pressure, and means for periodically opening a valve in the calibration gas line, and means (12) for determining the transit time of the calibration gas impulses through the sample line.

Description: The invention relates to a process as defined in the preamble of claim 1. Such a process is disclosed in DE-A-2 035 982. According to this publication, the gas analysis is being done on the basis of the average composition of the sampled gas which is collected in a suction pump. Moreover, facilities are provided to analyse only the expiratory half of the respiration stroke. In order to find a correlation between the measurement of the flow rate and the composition, a delay device is provided which introduces a fixed time delay. Moreover this prior process collects an amount of sampling gas for analysis which is proportional to the rate of flow. If one wishes to analyse the composition of gases in such a way when such composition does not change much in time, or if one is interested only in the average composition, no particular problems arise. Where the gas composition can fluctuate greatly and one wishes to follow that fluctuation with great accuracy, and particularly where one also wishes to find a connection with the flow velocity of the gases to be measured, a problem is caused through the fact that the measurement of the flow velocity takes place directly, and the measurement of the concentrations is deferred in time due to the distance of the analysis equipment from the measuring head. In order to correct this time difference, the idea came up to feed in by hand, using a balloon, a quantity of a suitable calibration gas in or near the suction aperture of the sample line at the measuring head, and then to determine from the observed time of entry of said calibration gas into the analysis equipment the transit time of the gas through the sample line, between the measuring head and the analysis equipment. This calibration is, however, not accurate, on the one hand because the time of delivery of a quantity of calibration gas by hand cannot be determined accurately, or cannot be correlated accurately with the reading in the analysis equipment but, on the other hand, in particular because the transit time is not a constant. In fact, said transit time depends on all kinds of environmental conditions, the temperature being the main one, but the atmospheric pressure and, for example, the moisture content of the gas to be analysed also playing a role. Carrying out measurements on gases with variations in the composition with a period of 2 to 3 seconds was therefore so inaccurate that it can be said that such measurements were hitherto impossible. The object of the present invention is to produce a solution to this problem. To this end, the process according to the invention is basically characterized as defined in claim 1. Controlling the delivery of calibration gas impulses from the equipment in this way permits a greater accuracy in the determination of the time at which each pulse is recorded by the equipment again. Any statistical variations are overcome by taking an average over a series of calibration gas impulses. The averaging of a series of measurements is thus carried out for the purpose of increasing calibration accuracy and, of course not for the purpose of removing the effect of possibly changing circumstances. On the contrary, it is very easily possible with the idea of the invention to carry out renewed calibration with great frequency, once it is suspected that a change in circumstances has occurred, or purely in order to ensure that such a change has not occurred. The selection of a calibration gas will be determined by the analysis facilities in the equipment. If said equipment is, for example, suitable for analysing the carbon dioxide content, carbon dioxide can be used as the calibration gas. The invention also relates to a device as defined in claim 2 The moisure content of the gas to be analysed can have a relatively great influence on the transit time. This applies in particular when, as is often te case, the gas to be analysed is virtually saturated with water vapor. Cooling down, and thus condensation, occurs in the sample hose. This alters the resistance of the sample line, and thereby also the transit time from the sampling point to the analyser. In order to overcome this problem, the device according to the invention is preferably designed in such a way that the sample line is made of a meterial which is permeable to water vapour over at least part of the length. If this part of the sample line is long enough, the relative humidity can be made to fall below the condensation threshold, so that the above-mentioned alterations in the transit time are prevented. A major field of application of the invention is the analysis of human respiration air, in particular for the examination of metabolism processes. The measuring head is then a pipe section through which the person to be examined breathes in and out, and the analysis equipment is designed for determining the O₂ and CO₂ concentrations. With the invention it is then possible to establish accurately between each inspiration and expiration the connection between the concentration of those two gases and the volume breathed in and out. The invention will be explained below with reference to the appended drawing. Fig. 1 shows a diagram of the device, and Fig. 2 shows a view, partially in longitudinal section, of a double connecting hose between the measuring head and the analysis equipment. The analysis equipment 1 comprises the actual gas analyser which is indicated by 2, and which is provided with a suction pump 3. The latter constantly draws gas through the sample line 4, as indicated by the arrow P1, from the measuring head, indicated in its entirety by 5. The gases to be analysed enter said measuring head in the direction of the arrow P2, and leave it in the direction of the arrow P3. The flow passage of the measuring head contains an instrument 6 such as a volume converter for determining the passage of gas. The analysis equipment also contains a tank 7 for a compressed calibration gas. It can be delivered by a valve 8 to a calibration gas line 9 with the interposition of a flow resistor 10 for accurately determining the quantity of calibration gas flowing through. This calibration gas flows in the direction of the arrow P4. The calibration gas line is connected to said sample line 4 at a place indicated by 11 close to the suction aperture of the sample line 4 at the measuring head. Under the control of an electronic control unit, indicated in its entirety by 12, the valve 8 can be opened and closed periodically, in order thus to emit calibration gas pulses which enter the sample line at 11 and then reach the analyser 2 again. The time of arrival of each calibration gas pulse at the analyser is then fed back again to the electronic unit 12, so that the transit time from the point 11 to the entrance of the analyser can thus be established. It is possible, for example, to work with series of ten calibration gas impulses, each with a duration of 1 second, and with intervals of 1 second. The first and second pulses are then used only for flushing the line 9 with the calibration gas, and the pulses 3 to 10 are used for the measurement. Fig. 2 shows a specific embodiment of a combination of the sample line 4 and the calibration gas line 9. The connecting piece 13 is made kinked, so that the bores to be described below can be made easily. The part 14 tapers slightly on the outside, so that it can be inserted easily in a suitable aperture in the measuring head. It is provided with an axial bore 15. The other part 16 in the embodiment shown is at an angle of approximately 135° to the part 14. It is provided with two longitudinal bores 17, 18. It can be seen from the drawing that as a result of the angle between the parts 14 and 16 said two bores can connect to bore 15. A flexible thin tube 19 is inserted over some distance into bore 18 and can, for example, be glued in it. It is made of a material which is permeable to water vapour and serves as a stabilization hose. Another flexible tube is not inserted directly in the same way as tube 19 into the bore 17, but a short pipe section 21, which can be, for example, of metal and also projects over some distance beyond the connecting piece, is inserted into bore 17, as shown by 21′, so that it can be used for sliding on and possibly gluing the tube material 20. This serves as a calibration gas line. The tubes 19 and 20 are fixed in a comparable way to the coupling piece 22, which again has two parallel longitudinal bores 23, 24. The end of the flexible tube 19, indicated by 19′, is slid over some distance into bore 23. At the other side a short metal pipe 25 is again inserted into the bore; the flexible tube 26 is slid onto the part thereof projecting beyond the coupling piece. The bore 24 in the coupling piece, which is the bottom bore in the drawing, has a metal pipe 27 which projects beyond the coupling piece 22 at both sides. The end of the tube 20′ is slid onto the projecting end at one side. At the other side the flexible tube 28 is slid onto this metal pipe 27. The tube sections 19 and 20 between the connecting piece 13 and the coupling piece 22 are surrounded by a common sleeve 29, which is slid at one side onto the connecting piece 13 at a part 30 with reduced diameter, and at the other side onto a part 31 with reduced diameter of the coupling piece 22. The sleeve 29 serves to keep the tubes 19 and 20 together, but it must, of course, be made of an openwork material such as a woven material, in order to enable tube 20 to fulfil its function. Finally, short muffs 32, 33 are slid at the same place over the connecting points on the connecting piece 13 or coupling piece 22, as a stabilization of the connections between the tubes 19 and 20 and the pieces 13 and 22. The length of the tube sections 19 and 20 between the connecting piece 13 and the coupling piece 22 is determined by the length needed to reduce the moisture content of the sample gas below the condensation threshold by means of the tube 19 which is permeable to water vapour. The tubes 26 and 28 then bridge the remainder of the distance between the measuring head and the analysis equipment. These tubes 26 and 28 can also be connected to each other over the entire length, so that the shape of an 8 is produced in cross-section. In order to give a good understanding of the effect achieved with the invention, it can be said that in a specific application a sample line 4 between the measuring head and the analysis equipment 1 is approximately 1.8 m long. The suction pump draws 200 to 250 ml per minute of gas for analysing through said sample line out of the measuring head 5. The transit time is then approximately 1 second. In order in a fluctuating composition with periods of 2 to 3 seconds to be able to establish a connection continuously between the gas composition and the volume which has flowed through, the transit time of the sample gas through the sample line must be known within 5 msec. This can be achieved in principle if a series of ten impulses of the calibration gas is sent out, in such a way that the valve is always open 1 second and closed 1 second. This injection of sample gas can take place at a flow velocity of 100 to 150 ml per minute. As already said, when the sample line 4 is 1.8 m long, the transit time is approximately 1.0 sec. Without moisture stabilizer the transit time could change to 100 msec as a result of condensation, thus being approximately 10% of the value of the transit time. In the specific embodiment mentioned, approximately 40 cm was found to be long enough for the moisture stabilization hose 19 to maintain a constant transit time not affected by moisture. Finally, it is pointed out that in application of the idea of the invention in a device for analysing human respiration air, the measuring head 5 is the so-called patient mouthpiece with built-in volume transducer. Unlike the analysis of, for example, flue gases, which always run in the same direction according to the arrows P2 and P3 shown in Fig. 1, the patient mouthpiece is flowed through in two directions; during the expiration the arrows P2 and P3 indicate the direction of flow, but that direction of flow is reversed for the inspiration.

Claims: A process for determining the correlation between the flow velocity and the composition of gases which may fluctuate greatly and which pass through a measuring head (5) which determines the flow velocity of said gases, the process comprising: providing a measuring head which determines the flow velocity of the gases, whose composition may fluctuate greatly, as a function of time; analyzing the composition of said gases being analyzed using analysis equipment (1) which is placed a distance away from the measuring head and is connected thereto by a sampling line (4) through which a sample is drawn using a suction pump, characterized in that for the substantially continuous determination of the correlation between the flow velocity and the gas composition, a calibration gas is provided for determining transit time between the measuring head and the analysis equipment the calibration gas being fed via a calibration gas line (9) to the sampling line (4) at a point near where the sampling line connects to the measuring head, said calibration gas being fed as a series of calibration gas impulses from the analyzing equipment to the sampling line via the calibration gas line, and the average transit time of the gas impulses is determined in the conditions prevailing locally at the moment. A device for carrying out the process of claim 1, for correlating flow velocity measurement data and gas composition data for a flowing gas having composition which may fluctuate greatly, the device comprising: a measuring head (5) through which flowing gas having a composition which may fluctuate greatly passes to be analyzed, said measuring head being provided with a volume transducer for determining the flow rate of the gas flowing through said measuring head as a function of time; analysis means (1) for determining the composition of said flowing gas; a sampling line (4) connecting said measuring head to said analysis means; suction means (3) for drawing samples of said gas flowing through the measuring head to the analysis means via the sampling line, characterized by a source (7) of calibration gas in the analysis means for determining the transit time between said measuring head and said analysis means; means for pressurizing the source of calibration gas; a calibration gas line (9) for coupling said source of pressurized calibration gas to said sampling line (4) at a juncture (11) located near the end of said sampling line which is connected to said measuring head; a valve (8) located in said analysis means between said source of pressurized calibration gas and said calibration gas line, said valve being operable between an open and a closed position; means for periodically opening and closing said valve at a predetermined rate to inject pressurized calibration gas impulses into said sampling line at said predetermined rate; and means for determining the transit time of said pressurized calibration gas impulses through said sampling line and for averaging the determined transit times over a series of gas impulses. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that a connecting piece (13) is present, having at one side a single bore (15) which divides into two bores (17, 18) at the other side. Device according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the connecting piece (13) is made kinked and the two bores (17, 18) in the part (16) at one side of the kink reach the single bore (15) in the part (14) at the other side of the kink. Device according to any of Claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the sample line (26, 19) is made along at least part (19) of its length of material which is permeable to water vapour. Device according to any of Claims 2 to 5, designed for the analysis of human respiration air.

Inventors: VAN DEN BURG JOHANNES MARTINUS, VAN DEN BURG, JOHANNES MARTINUS ESSE
Applicants: MIJNHARDT BV, MIJNHARDT B.V.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G01N1
IPC codes: G01N1, G01N33