Pittcon 2007: Monitoring system among new offerings at instrumentation show

By Control Engineering Staff February 27, 2007
Bruker’s RAID-AFM is designed to monitor large buildings and facilities for accidents or attacks involving toxic industrial chemicals or chemical warfare agents. (Photo courtesy of Business Wire.)

Chicago, IL and Billerica, MA —A system designed to monitor facilities for accidents or attacks involving toxic industrial chemicals or chemical warfare agents is among the new products being introduced at Pittcon 2007, the 58th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy . The event takes place at Chicago’s McCormick Place Feb. 25-Mar. 2.

Bruker Daltonics Inc . announced in a Business Wire report last week it will introduce and exhibit its RAID-AFM (Autonomous Facility Monitor) at the Pittsburgh Conference. The system is based on the company’s line of RAID ion mobility spectrometers (IMS), said to feature excellent detection capabilities and sensitivity and superior false positive rejection compared to other commercial IMS systems or technologies. It represents an expansion of the RAID product line for autonomous, automated facility monitoring, and has been further developed under the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security’s ARFCAM (autonomous rapid facility chemical agent monitor) research and development project.

RAID-AFM reportedly can detect and identify up to 20 chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals with short response times at IDLH (immediate dangerous to life and health) levels. It is designed to monitor critical infrastructure and larger buildings on a continuous 24/7 basis, without operator intervention and with minimal annual service requirements. The system represents state-of-the-art technology to protect key facilities from chemical accidents or potential terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction. This new stationary detector is a response to the demand for a small, affordable instrument that is compatible with other typical building infrastructure and that has Web-based diagnostics and control capabilities.

Bruker is one of nearly 1,200 exhibitors showing products and services at Pittcon 2007. The exhibition is complemented by a technical program of more than 2,000 presentations that focus on core analytical areas of chemistry and analytical techniques driving advances in life sciences. The agenda includes a plenary lecture on “Nanowire nanoelectric devices for detection of and interfacing to biological systems,” several symposia, and a short-course program covering more than 100 areas.

Pittcon also sponsors Science Week, a variety of programs that support science education in the host city. This year’s programs include grants, citations for excellence in teaching, a lecture/demonstration, teacher workshops, and hands-on student workshops. Grants and citations, which will be just given prior to the Conference, include an award of up to $25,000 for the best proposal to advance science education in the Chicago area.

Pittcon 2007 runs Feb. 25-March 2.

—Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Edited by Jeanine Katzel , senior editor