Sensors 2012, 12(11), 14363-14381; doi:10.3390/s121114363
Development of an Electronic Nose for Environmental Odour Monitoring
1
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
2
Progress S.r.l., via N.A. Porpora 147, 20131 Milano, Italy
3
Sacmi s.c., via Provinciale Selice 17/a, 40026 Imola, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 3 September 2012 / Revised: 18 October 2012 / Accepted: 19 October 2012 / Published: 25 October 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Odor Detection: Electronic Nose, Olfactometer, and Advanced Instrumentation)
Abstract
Exhaustive odour impact assessment should involve the evaluation of the impact of odours directly on citizens. For this purpose it might be useful to have an instrument capable of continuously monitoring ambient air quality, detecting the presence of odours and also recognizing their provenance. This paper discusses the laboratory and field tests conducted in order to evaluate the performance of a new electronic nose, specifically developed for monitoring environmental odours. The laboratory tests proved the instrument was able to discriminate between the different pure substances being tested, and to estimate the odour concentrations giving correlation indexes (R2) of 0.99 and errors below 15%. Finally, the experimental monitoring tests conducted in the field, allowed us to verify the effectiveness of this electronic nose for the continuous detection of odours in ambient air, proving its stability to variable atmospheric conditions and its capability to detect odour peaks. View Full-TextKeywords:
odour detection; odour concentration; classification; field monitoring; humidity regulation
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MDPI and ACS Style
Dentoni, L.; Capelli, L.; Sironi, S.; Rosso, R.D.; Zanetti, S.; Torre, M.D. Development of an Electronic Nose for Environmental Odour Monitoring. Sensors 2012, 12, 14363-14381.