Inficon Gmbh

Ludolf Gerdau

Daniel Wetzig

Werner Grosse Bley

Randolf Paul Rolff

Silvio Decker

Norbert Rolff

Hjalmar Bruhns

Gerhard Küster

Ralf Kilian

Ulrich Döbler

Werner Grosse-Bley

A method for detecting fluctuations in the amount of test gas detected by a sniffer probe of a leak detector in the gas flow from around a test piece pressurized with an oxygen-free test gas containing at least an amount of CO, wherein an amount of oxygen in the ambient air is measured.

Detecting test gas fluctuations during sniffer leak searching

A testing device includes a test gas container, which is provided with a test leak for producing a test gas flow at a predefined leakage rate. The test leak includes at least one capillary tube, which connects the interior of the test gas container to the outer surroundings of the test gas container in a gas-conducting manner. The test gas container is at least partially made of a flexible material.

Testing device having a test gas container

A sniffing leak detector comprises a handle with a sniffing tip. Located at the sniffing tip is a measurement gas suction opening and a reference gas suction opening. The reference gas suction opening is intended for suctioning ambient gas. The reference gas suction opening is aligned substantially the same as the measurement gas suction opening such that both suction openings are sensitive in the same direction.

Sniffing leak detector according to the reference measurement principle

Usually, a sniffing leak detector must be calibrated for each tracing gas. The calibration comprises ranging of the spectral positions into the mass spectrum and the amplitude height. At least one mass line is determined with a calibrating gas. The mass lines lying between two mass lines and/or between a zero point and a line are determined by interpolation and/or extrapolation. In this manner, a sniffing leak detector can be used for such tracing gases which have not previously been used for calibration purposes.

Method for calibrating a mass spectrometric sniffing leak detector

A cold cathode pressure sensor has gastight housing, an anode and a cathode arranged in the housing, and a radiation source directed to the cathode for igniting a cold cathode discharge. The housing has a test gas inlet and is at least partly made of glass. The radiation source is arranged outside the housing and irradiates the cathode through the housing glass. The radiation source substantially emits a radiation of a wavelength of more than 400 nm and less than 1,400 nm.

Cold cathode pressure sensor

A leak rate measuring device contains a strip spectrometer in which the ion path of the respective gas is influenced by at least one variable influencing quantity. When a gas having a predetermined mass is detected, and leakages of a gas having other predetermined masses interfere with this detection due to lack of selectivity of the spectrometer, the influencing quantity is modulated in a sinusoidal manner, and the wanted signal is subsequently selected in a lock-in amplifier. This modulation enables, for example, the elimination of the interfering influence of underground water during the leak rate measurement while using helium as a test gas.

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Elsdorf, Germany

Ludolf Gerdau