Patent ID: 7767145

Claim:
A system for monitoring a processing fluid within a high-pressure processing system, the system comprising: a recirculation loop comprising a high pressure processing chamber and a high pressure recirculation system coupled to the high pressure processing chamber, wherein the processing fluid flows through the recirculation loop; a high-pressure fluid supply system coupled to the recirculation loop and comprising means for supplying fluid to the recirculation loop; a process chemistry supply system coupled to the recirculation loop and comprising means for supplying process chemistry to the recirculation loop; a pressure control system coupled to the recirculation loop; an exhaust system coupled to the recirculation loop; a monitoring system coupled to the recirculation loop for monitoring the processing fluid flowing through the recirculation loop; and a controller coupled to the high pressure processing chamber, the recirculation system, the high-pressure fluid supply system, the process chemistry supply system, the pressure control system, the exhaust system, and the monitoring system wherein the controller comprises means for determining a chemical composition of the processing fluid using data from the monitoring system, means for comparing the chemical composition to a threshold value, means for providing additional fluid to the recirculation loop when the chemical composition is greater than or equal to the threshold value, and means for providing additional process chemistry to the recirculation loop when the chemical composition is less than the threshold value.