Concentrator apparatus

摘要

A liquid sample subject to inclusion of impurities is concentrated by a predetermined concentration factor selected by an operator, with the concentrated sample being thereafter provided to an analyzer so that a meaningful chemical analysis may be performed. A first pump delivers the sample to a liquid reservoir at a first rate and the liquid is boiled to provide a liquid-vapor mixture, with the liquid portion of the mixture being returned to the reservoir by means of a vapor separator. Another pump delivers the concentrated reservoir fluid to an analyzer at a second flowrate, with the ratio of the flowrate of the first pump to the second pump being equivalent to the desired concentration factor. In another embodiment, a faster response time is attained by first boiling the input sample and providing the liquid which is separated from the liquid-vapor mixture to a relatively small reservoir.