Patent ID: 8910514

Claim:
An apparatus to determine a saturation pressure of a fluid, comprising: a housing having a detection chamber; a heater assembly partially positioned within the detection chamber controlled by an electronics and processing system configured to temporarily heat only a local portion of a fluid resulting in thermal nucleation and then the fluid returning to an ambient temperature and comprising; current transporting conductors; and a wire within the detection chamber and electrically coupled to the current transporting conductors that temporarily heats the local portion of the fluid; wherein a cross-sectional area of the current transporting conductors is larger than a cross-sectional area of the wire; a sensor assembly to detect a property of the fluid; a pressure controller to control a pressure of the fluid; and wherein the electronics and processing system identifies a saturation pressure of the fluid using the property of the fluid, and wherein the heater assembly is to temporarily heat the local portion of the fluid without increasing a temperature of the detection chamber by more than approximately 0.1° C.