Patent ID: 7919059

Claim:
A vapor decontamination system for decontaminating a region, said system comprising: a generator for generating a vaporized decontaminant; a circulating system for supplying said vaporized decontaminant to said region; at least one humidity sensor providing a first signal indicative of moisture in the region; a temperature sensor providing a second signal indicative of the temperature in the region; at least one concentration sensor providing a third signal indicative of the concentration of the decontaminant in the region; a controller communicating with said generator to control the rate at which vaporized decontaminant is injected into the region, said controller receiving the first, second, and third signals, a first concentration level for the vaporized decontaminant, and a second concentration level for the vaporized decontaminant, wherein said first and second concentration levels have respective first and second exposure times associated therewith, said first concentration level being greater than said second concentration level; first means for timing to provide an indication of the total time that the actual concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region is at or above the first concentration level; second means for timing to provide an indication of the total time that the actual concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region is at or above the second concentration level; wherein said controller is programmed to: inject the vaporized decontaminant generated by the generator into the region at a first injection rate for obtaining the first concentration level of the vaporized decontaminant in the region; monitor the actual concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region using the at least one concentration sensor; determine the dew point concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region; determine whether the actual concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region is at least a predetermined amount below the dew point concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region; and reduce the injection rate of the vaporized decontaminant from the first injection rate for obtaining the first concentration level of the vaporized decontaminant to a second injection rate for obtaining the second concentration level of the vaporized decontaminant, if (1) the actual concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region is not at least the predetermined amount below the dew point concentration of the vaporized decontaminant in the region or (2) the amount of time indicated by the second means for timing to reach the second exposure time is less than the amount of time indicated by the first means for timing to reach the first exposure time.