Identifying transition points in chemical reactions

Abstract

An apparatus for identifying transition points in a chemical reaction, the apparatus comprising: a property value receiver, configured to receive a plurality of values of a physical property of the chemical reaction, a linear function calculator, associated with the property value receiver, configured to calculate a linear function connecting two of the received values, the two values pertaining to a start and end of a time period, a difference calculator, associated with the linear function calculator, configured to calculate a difference between the linear function and a plurality of the received values pertaining to the time period, and a transition point identifier, associated with the difference calculator, configured to identify at least one transition point of the chemical reaction, using the calculated difference.

1 . A chemical reaction system, the system comprising:
 a reaction apparatus, comprising at least one sensor configured to measure a plurality of values of a physical property of a chemical reaction   an electronic computing device, in communication with said reaction apparatus, configured to process data;   a property value receiver, implemented at least in part on said electronic computing device, configured to receive the plurality of values of the physical property of the chemical reaction;   a linear function calculator, associated with said property value receiver, configured to calculate a linear function spanning over at least a part of the chemical reaction, the at least a part of the chemical reaction spanning over a predefined time period having a start and end, the linear function connecting two of the received values, the two values pertaining to the start and end of the time period, the linear function having a first value pertaining to the start of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the start of the time period, and a second value pertaining to the end of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the end of the time period;   a difference calculator, associated with said linear function calculator, configured to calculate a difference between the linear function and a plurality of the received values pertaining to the part;   a transition point identifier, associated with said difference calculator, configured to identify at least one transition point of the chemical reaction within the part, using the calculated difference; and   a control operation initiator, associated with said transition point identifier, configured to initiate a control operation upon the transition point being identified.   
     
     
         2 . An apparatus for identifying transition points in a chemical reaction, the apparatus comprising:
 an electronic computing device configured to process data;   a property value receiver, implemented at least in part on said electronic computing device, configured to receive a plurality of values of a physical property of the chemical reaction from a reaction apparatus;   a linear function calculator, associated with said property value receiver, configured to calculate a linear function spanning over at least a part of the chemical reaction, the at least a part of the chemical reaction spanning over a predefined time period having a start and end, the linear function connecting two of the received values, the two values pertaining to the start and end of the time period, the linear function having a first value pertaining to the start of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the start of the time period, and a second value pertaining to the end of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the end of the time period;   a difference calculator, associated with said linear function calculator, configured to calculate a difference between the linear function and a plurality of the received values pertaining to the part;   a transition point identifier, associated with said difference calculator, configured to identify at least one transition point of the chemical reaction within the part, using the calculated difference; and   a control operation initiator, associated with said transition point identifier, configured to initiate a control operation upon the transition point being identified.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the values are photometric measurement values. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the values of the physical property start increasing substantially exponentially at the identified transition point. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the values of the physical property stop increasing substantially exponentially at the identified transition point. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the values of the physical property start decreasing substantially exponentially at the identified transition point. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the values of the physical property stop decreasing substantially exponentially at the identified transition point. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a phase indicator, associated with said transition point identifier, configured to indicate a beginning of a phase of the chemical reaction upon the transition point being identified. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a phase indicator, associated with said transition point identifier, configured to indicate an end of a phase of the chemical reaction upon the transition point being identified. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a phase indicator, associated with said transition point identifier, configured to indicate an end of a preliminary stabilization phase of the chemical reaction upon the transition point being identified. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a monitoring data generator, associated with said transition point identifier, configured to generate monitoring data based on the identified transition point and to present the monitoring data to a user of the reaction apparatus. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a measurement device, associated with said property value receiver, configured to measure the values of the physical property. 
     
     
         13 . A computer implemented method for identifying transition points in a chemical reaction, the method comprising steps the computer is programmed to perform, the steps comprising:
 a) receiving a plurality of values of a physical property of the chemical reaction from a reaction apparatus;   b) calculating a linear function spanning over at least a part of the chemical reaction, the at least a part of the chemical reaction spanning over a predefined time period having a start and end, the linear function connecting two of the received values, the two values pertaining to the start and end of the time period, the linear function having a first value pertaining to the start of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the start of the time period, and a second value pertaining to the end of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the end of the time period;   c) calculating a difference between the linear function and a plurality of the received values pertaining to the part;   d) identifying at least one transition point of the chemical reaction within the part, using the calculated difference; and   e) initiating a control operation upon said identifying of the transition point.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising indicating a beginning of a phase of the chemical reaction upon said identifying of the transition point. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising indicating an end of a phase of the chemical reaction upon said identifying of the transition point. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising indicating an end of a preliminary stabilization phase of the chemical reaction upon said identifying of the transition point. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising generating monitoring data that is based on the identified transition point and presenting the monitoring data to a user of the reaction apparatus. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising measuring the values of the physical property. 
     
     
         19 . A computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for performing steps of identifying transition points in a chemical reaction, the steps comprising:
 a) receiving a plurality of values of a physical property of the chemical reaction from a reaction apparatus;   b) calculating a linear function spanning over at least a part of the chemical reaction, the at least a part of the chemical reaction spanning over a predefined time period having a start and end, the linear function connecting two of the received values, the two values pertaining to the start and end of the time period, the linear function having a first value pertaining to the start of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the start of the time period, and a second value pertaining to the end of the time period and being a same value as the received value pertaining to the end of the time period;   c) calculating a difference between the linear function and a plurality of the received values pertaining to the part;   d) identifying at least one transition point of the chemical reaction within the part, using the calculated difference; and   e) initiating a control operation upon said identifying of the transition point.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising instructing a robot based on the identified transition point.