6731804

Claims

• We claim: 1. A system for sensing and identifying chemical and biological contaminants in a liquid source, comprising: a sample cell for containing a sample of the liquid source; a metal chamber, said sample cell contained in said metal chamber; a microwave irradiation source connected to said metal chamber and adapted to deliver microwave radiation to the sample contained in said sample cell to induce thermal luminescence of irradiated contaminants contained in the sample; a spectral sensor aligned with said metal chamber to receive the thermal luminescence emitted from said sample, and for producing spectral data therefrom; a spectral pattern recognizer trained to recognize specific spectral patterns in said spectral data for identifying said contaminants in the sample of the liquid source; and wherein said sample cell comprises a sample intake port for acquiring the liquid sample; a sample exit port for discharging the liquid sample; at least one wall for admitting the microwave radiation; and a thermal luminescence exitance window for delivering said luminescence to said spectral sensor. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said sample cell comprises glass. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said thermal luminescence exitance window comprises an infrared ZnSe window designed to index-match the water-ZnSe and ZnSe-air interfaces for maximum transmission of thermal luminescence exiting said sample cell; and wherein said irradiation source is tuned to an energy of 2.45 GHz. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said intake port is attached to a first pump for acquiring the sample remotely from said liquid source, and said exit port is attached to a second pump means for discharging the sample. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein said first pump is adapted to regularly acquire the sample from the liquid source in real time, and said second pump is adapted to regularly discharge the sample after irradiation of said sample and before said first pumping means acquires another sample. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein said metal chamber further comprises: an irradiation input port connected to said microwave irradiation source for transmitting said microwave radiation into said metal chamber to irradiate the sample contained in said sample cell contained therein; a thermal luminescence output port for transmitting said thermal luminescence to said spectral sensor; and a reflective surface provided inside said metal chamber opposite said