CHIMES: Chemical Identification By Magneto Elastic Sensing

Abstract

A Chemical Identification by Magnetoelastic Sensing (ChIMES) technology is hereby presented in this paper. The sensor is designed to detect and identify a broad range of gaseous analytes using a single or array of sensors located in a flow tube. The sensor is capable of untethered communication through the metallic or the nonmetallic barrier. This gives the sensor a unique feature that provides many capabilities for interrogation where the proliferation of the sample environment is not possible due to health, safety, legal, or environmental concerns. As the analyte flows through a tube containing a sensor array (sensors constructed of an amorphous wire sensing element and a target response material (TRM)), the TRM absorbs the analyte which will typically swell imposing stress on the amorphous wire embedded in the core of the sensor. As the TRM applies pressure to the amorphous wire, the wire's magnetic permeability changes, which is sensed by the ChIMES system instrumentation. Since each sensor in the array is designed to respond differently to various analytes, the specific analyte and its concentration can be determined by analyzing the rise time, fall time and amplitudes of the various sensors. The size of this electronics package is greatly reduced so that a handheld version of the ChIMES system could be constructed. The device total weight is estimated to be approximately 6 to 10 Pounds with the overall volume of 150 〖In〗^3. The battery life is expected to last 4 hrs with a duty cycle of 0.25 %.