Sampling, Portals, and Inlets

The concept of obtaining a sample by wiping an article or object with a cloth strip to collect particulate of explosives, with subsequent heating of the sample in an anvil to desorb explosive vapors, is a general practice and has been described in a 

Inlet sizes Large - volume Concentration factor 

Source Adapted from K. Linker, Large-Volume Sampling and Preconcentration, 3rd Explosives Detection Technology Symposium and Aviation Security Technology Conference, Adan-tic City, NJ, USA, 26-27 November, 2001. 

Jacksonville (FL), Providence (RI), Rochester (NY), and San Francisco (CA) [21]. An intention to develop portals with IMS detectors appears to be part of the US Transportation Security Administration plans, with 28.3 million allocated to purchase and install an additional 147 trace portals [22]. One feature of the portals not mentioned in the discussion above is that sample is collected from an object, here a body, automatically. This contrasts with the current generation of explosive trace detectors where swipes of samples are needed for a measurement. 

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