Patent ID: 7282372

Claim:
A method for improved measurement of fluid volumes in a reaction vessel obtained by adding at least two fluids into the reaction vessel, wherein the method takes into account the geometry of the reaction vessel and properties of each fluid, the method comprising the steps of: developing a mathematical algorithm for each of the at least two fluids by correlating a height of an aliquot of each of the at least two fluids added to a standard reaction vessel, wherein the height is measured by a sensor with a volume of the aliquot of each of the at least two fluids, wherein the volume is calculated from independent gravimetric measurements; adding a first volume of a first fluid from the at least two fluids to said reaction vessel; measuring the first volume of the first fluid contained in said reaction vessel by sensing the height of the first fluid in said vessel using the sensor and calculating the volume based on said sensed height using the mathematical algorithm for the first fluid; adding a second volume of a second fluid from the at least two fluids to said reaction vessel; measuring the second volume of the second fluid contained in said reaction vessel by sensing the height of the second fluid in said vessel using the sensor and calculating the volume based upon the sensed height using the mathematical algorithm for the second fluid; calculating at least one of the ratio and the delta between the first and second measured volumes; comparing the at least one calculated ratio and delta to a known reference for the standard vessel; and discarding the reaction vessel if the difference between the at least one calculated ratio and delta and the known reference exceeds a predetermined range of values.