Walk-Through Portals and Systems for Luggage Screening

6 WALK-THROUGH PORTALS AND SYSTEMS FOR LUGGAGE SCREENING 

The widespread deployment of walk-through portals for humans or for automatic screening of luggage is pending. Two of the major manufacturers of IMS equipment. Smiths Detection (formerly Barringer Research) and Morpho Detection (Safran) (which acquired GE Interlogix and was formerly called Ion Track Instruments) have put forth experimental models for testing in realistic scenarios. 

Barringer Research had produced a series of portable IMS-based instruments for detection of drugs and explosives, known as the lONSCAN, and a handheld analyzer. Similarly, Ion Track Instruments had built an instrument family based on IMS to meet the same requirements for aviation safety. The core technology for these instruments is integrated into the prototype luggage-screening systems and portals for human screening.  

A coated mesh vapor concentrator further increased the concentration of the vapors, which were then analyzed by an lONSCAN. Meanwhile, the vapors given off by the luggage were collected by another preconcentrator unit and released into a second set of coated mesh concentrators and an IMS instrument. The drift tube 

In another study, 17 of the most common suspected interferents for detection of TNT by IMS technology in airport scenarios were investigated. The reactant ion was chloride, the most common reactant ion in explosive detectors. Ten of the interferents showed no IMS response, and of the other seven, only two presented a problem 4,6-Dinitro-( -cresol had a close reduced mobility value and 2,4-dinitro-phenol competed with ionization of TNT. The personal account given in Frame 12.2 shows that some chemicals that give a false-positive response may come from unexpected origins, such as hand lotion or other common cosmetics and medications. 

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