System and method for monitoring the atmosphere of a controlled atmosphere workstation

• Main Authors: Christopher Charles Roper, David Boast
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 07.04.2021
• Subjects: CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE; HAND TOOLS; MANIPULATORS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; TRANSPORTING

A system for monitoring the atmosphere in a chamber of a controlled atmosphere workstation, the system comprising a first gas sensor 4 to detect a first gas in the atmosphere, a protector 8 to shield the first gas sensor from one or more degrading products and a controller 5 to process the gas data of the first gas sensor and determine the concentration of the first gas in the atmosphere based on the gas data. The controller may control a supply of first gas to the chamber in accordance with the determined concentration of the first gas. Optionally, prior to determining the concentration of the first gas, the controller corrects distortion errors in the gas data due to one or more distorting gases in the atmosphere. The protector may be an enclosure or housing with gas inlet 9 and gas outlet 10 which protects the gas sensor. Ideally, the gas sensor is positioned in the base of the workstation which comprises a floor partition 13. A workstation comprising the system and a method of operation is also disclosed.