Patent ID: 8904849

Claim:
A method for determining the presence of one or more specific chemicals in a sample of gas, the method comprising: receiving a first response signal characteristic of the presence or absence of at least one first chemical or group of chemicals in a sample of gas, the first response signal generated by a photoionization detector; receiving a second response signal characteristic of the presence or absence of at least one second chemical or group of chemicals in the sample of gas, the second response signal generated by an ion mobility spectrometer; receiving a third response signal characteristic of the present or absence of at least one third chemical or group of chemicals in a sample of gas, the third response signal generated by a chemical sensor array; analyzing the first response signal to generate a first list of candidate chemicals for the sample of gas; analyzing the second response signal to generate a second list of candidate chemicals for the sample of gas; analyzing the third response signal to generate a third list of candidate chemicals for the sample of gas; and causing a processor to fuse the first, second, and third lists of candidate chemicals to generate information indicative of the presence of one or more specific chemicals in the sample of gas.