The disclosed embodiments relate to the design of a preconcentrator system for preconcentrating air samples. This preconcentrator system includes a plurality of preconcentrators that preconcentrate the air samples prior to chemical analysis, and a delivery structure comprising a manifold that selectively routes a sample airflow to the plurality of concentrators so that the plurality of preconcentrators receive a sample airflow concurrently or individually.

The disclosed embodiments relate to the design of a preconcentrator system for preconcentrating air samples. This preconcentrator system includes a plurality of preconcentrators that preconcentrate the air samples prior to chemical analysis, and a delivery structure comprising a manifold that selectively routes a sample airflow to the plurality of concentrators so that the plurality of preconcentrators receive a sample airflow concurrently or individually.

An integrated controller for an environmental testing system simultaneously controls and synchronizes vibration, temperature, and humidity in an environment test chamber over a specified reliability test duration, and performs condition-based measurement and processing of vibration data obtained from the environment test chamber for one or more specified trigger conditions. The controller executes a combined run schedule using a single internal clock and a hardware processor, to generate parameter control commands for the environment test chamber that remain synchronized to the single internal clock over the duration of a test, even one that lasts for weeks or months. This permits multi-variate processing of measured instantaneous values of temperature, humidity, and vibration to obtain, e.g., condition-dependent vibration power spectra and averages for available conditions of temperature, humidity, or both.

Provided are a power element and an expansion valve using same that are capable of suppressing local deformation of a diaphragm or the like while ensuring the transfer efficiency of a refrigerant. A power element includes a diaphragm; an upper lid member that is overlapped on one surface in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the diaphragm and forms a pressure working chamber PO with the diaphragm; a receiving member that is overlapped on another surface in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the diaphragm and forms a refrigerant inflow chamber LS with the diaphragm; and a stopper member housed in the refrigerant inflow chamber LS and in contact with the diaphragm, wherein a plate thickness near a support point of the diaphragm is thicker than a plate thickness at a central portion of the diaphragm.

A method for the real-time estimation of the total consumption of a fluid, in particular water or gas, distributed from a unit (A) to users (b1, b2 . . . ) via a network of supply pipes (E) with a branch (d1, d2 . . . ), for each user, fitted with a counter (c1, c2 . . . ) of the fluid consumed by the user, which method involves defining cohorts of users having homogeneous behavior with regard to the consumption of fluid; defining, for at least one of these cohorts, a sample of users from the cohort that is statistically sufficient to represent the cohort; fitting only the branches of the users of each sample with a remote reading device (t1, t2, . . . ) for reading the consumption; also fitting remote reading devices to the branches of the users of the other cohorts that have not been sampled; and processing the information provided by the remote reading devices to obtain a real-time value representative of the total consumption of the network.

A thermostat and a method include using occupancy sensors, temperature sensors, and humidity sensors to control activation of a cooling function of an HVAC system to dehumidify an enclosure. During times when the enclosure is occupied, the cooling function is activated when the humidity exceeds a first threshold humidity, and continues until the humidity drops below a second threshold humidity or the temperature drops below a first threshold temperature. During times when the enclosure is unoccupied, the cooling function is activated when the humidity exceeds a third threshold humidity, and continues until the humidity drops below a fourth threshold humidity or the temperature drops below a second threshold temperature.