Patent ID: 7034302

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring the quality of steam contained in a closed vessel, comprising: an emitter configured and positioned to transmit radiant energy through a volume of steam within the closed vessel, wherein the radiant energy comprises: a first wavelength of radiant energy more sensitive to absorption by liquid water than by water vapor; a second wavelength of radiant energy more sensitive to absorption by water vapor than by liquid water; a third wavelength of radiant energy less sensitive to absorption by liquid water than the first wavelength of radiant energy and less sensitive to absorption by water vapor than the second wavelength of radiant energy; a detector configured and positioned to receive the radiant energy transmitted from the emitter after passage through the volume of steam and to generate at least one electrical signal corresponding to an intensity for each of the first, second and third wavelengths of radiant energy received thereby; and a controller configured to receive and interpret the quality of steam from a quantitative relationship in the at least one electrical signal of the intensity of each of the first, second and third wavelengths of radiant energy received at the detector.