Hiden Analytical shares in a prestigious R+D 100 Award for 2008 for successful development of the spatially resolved capillary inlet mass spectrometer technology
The technology was jointly developed and submitted for the award by researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Queen's University Belfast, Y-12 National Security Complex and Hiden Analytical.
The Spaci-MS multipoint interface samples the confined spaces inside reactor systems such as fuel cells, diesel engine catalysts and non-thermal plasma reactors with precise spatial and temporal resolution, providing highly detailed point-by-point information on reaction and catalytic chemistry.
The Hiden system utilises a 16 channel inlet coupled to the Hiden fast-transient mass spectrometer to provide automatic and rapid mapping of both temperature and species distributions.
Spaci-MS technology has already been used successfully in the optimisation of an automotive truck engine to help meet US 2010 emissions control standards three years ahead of schedule.
The prestigious R+D 100 Awards have been running since 1963 with a judging process intended to find the 100 most technologically significant products of the year.
Winners must provide a "demonstrable technological significance compared with competing products and technologies" according to the award's key criterion.
An R+D 100 Award is considered to be a mark of excellence known to industry, government and academia as proof that a product is one of the most innovative ideas of the year.
Hiden's Spaci-MS joins other past winners of the award, some of which have become household names, such as the halogen lamp, the liquid crystal display and HDTV.
