Abstract: An enclosure defining an anaerobic chamber for confining an anaerobic atmosphere, cuff and sleeve assemblies mounted on the enclosure in an airtight relation to the chamber so as to enable a scientist to insert his/her arms into said cuff and sleeve assemblies in an airtight manner so that his/her hands can be projected into the chamber without allowing oxygen into the chamber thereby offering the scientist the glove-free ability to handle and inspect samples in the chamber and thereby improve tactile efficiency, and an expandable and collapsible diaphragm mounted on said enclosure so as to communicate with said chamber so as to provide a continuous visual signal as to the condition of the atmosphere in the chamber, collapse of the diaphragm indicating that oxygen is leaking into the chamber.

Abstract: An oxygen detector for detecting the presence of trace levels of oxygen in an anaerobic environment consisting of a sample chamber wherein a sample from the anaerobic environment is exposed to a catalyst, such as palladium, which promotes the exothermic chemical reaction of oxygen with hydrogen. The presence of oxygen will cause such reaction to occur on the catalyst and the consequent generation of heat. A thermistor which is in thermal proximity to the catalyst detects this heat and provides a signal. The sampling chamber is enclosed by an enclosure which serves to volumetrically and thermally confine the sample during the measurement thereby enabling small levels of exothermic heat of reaction to be detected. Entrance to the sampling chamber is through a membrane which is permeable to lower molecular weight gases such as oxygen and hydrogen which thus enables diffusion of the anaerobic atmosphere into the chamber.