Development Of An Electronic Nose For Environmental Monitoring: Detection Of Specific Environmentally Important Gases At Their Odor Detection Threshold Concentration

摘要

The use of a sensor array is demonstrated to be an effective approach to evaluate hazardous odor (or gas) emissions from industrial sites. Therefore the possibility to use electronic noses for the prolonged survey of odor emissions from industrial sites is of particular interest for environmental monitoring purposes. At the Olfactometric Laboratory of the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Sacmi Group, Imola, an innovative electronic nose for the continuous monitoring of environmental odors is being developed. The aim of this work is to show the laboratory tests conducted to evaluate the capability of the electronic nose to recognize some specific environmentally important gases at their odor detection threshold concentration. The laboratory studies up to now focused on ammonia and butyric acid, those being compounds that can typically be found in the emissions from waste treatment plants, that may cause health effects when they exceed a given concentration level. The laboratory tests proved the sensors to be sensitive towards the considered compounds and the system to be capable of discriminating between odorous or non-odorous air, with a detection limit comparable with the detection limit of human nose.