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Detektion von Schimmelpilzen
(2008)
Detection of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC) with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS)
(2009)
Application of electronic nose and ion mobility spectrometer to quality control of spice mixtures
(2009)
Traces of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) in air can indicate the presence of growth of moulds in the indoor environment. Ion-mobility spectrometry is a very promising method for detection of these MVOCs, because of its high sensitivity. For development of an in-situ method for detection of MVOCs, a portable ion-mobility spectrometer (IMS) was used and test gases of 14 MVOCs and their respective mixtures were investigated. IMS spectra were recorded as a function of concentration of MVOCs in air. Drift time and mobility of reactant ions formed in positive polarity mode were determined and correlated with the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of the MVOCs investigated. The estimated detection limit has a specific value for each MVOC and is in the range 3 to 96 µg m-3 (1 to 52 ppbV). Indoor trials show that IMS can indicate hidden mould growth.
Detektion von leicht flüchtigen Schimmelpilzmetaboliten mittels Ionen-Mobilitäts-Spektrometrie (IMS)
(2009)
Spuren leicht flüchtiger organischer Verbindungen mikrobiellen Ursprungs (MVOC) in der Luft von Innenräumen können das Vorhandensein von Schimmelpilzen indizieren. Die Anwendung der Ionenmobilitätsspektrometrie (IMS) zur Detektion von leicht flüchtigen schimmelpilzspezifischenVerbindungen ist wegen ihrer hohen Empfindlichkeit viel versprechend. Um dieses analytisch-chemische Verfahren für eine Innenraumdiagnostik zu nutzen, wurde ein mobil einsetzbares Gerät zur Vor-Ort-Detektion getestet. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wurden MVOC-Prüfgase im Labor generiert. Die Prüfgase wurden durch permeative Beimengungen in einen definierten Gasstrom hergestellt. Anhand dieser Prüfgase wurden die typischen IMS-Parameter, wie reduzierte Mobilität (K0), relative Driftzeit (trd), Konzentrationsabhängigkeit der Signale und daraus resultierend die Nachweisgrenze des Ionenmobilitätsspektrometer ermittelt. Die bestimmten Nachweisgrenzen der 14 untersuchten MVOC liegen im Bereich zwischen 2 und 192 μg m-3 (1 bis 51 ppbV). Im zweiten Teil wurden sieben oft im Innenraum nachgewiesene Schimmelpilzarten auf Nährmedien kultiviert und ihre produzierten MVOC detektiert. Dabei wurde festgestellt, dass Schimmelpilze art- und altersabhängige MVOC-Emissionen aufweisen. Eine statistische Auswertung und Bestätigung zeigte die Anwendung der Hauptkomponentenanalyse (PCA). Versuchsbegleitend erfolgte eine Identifizierung der MVOC durch gaschromatographische Analysen und bestätigte die IMS-Ergebnisse. Beim Schimmelpilzwachstum einer Mischsporenkultur auf drei verschiedenen Baumaterialien wurden die produzierten MVOC detektiert. Die IMS-Spektren wurden chemometrisch durch eine PCA ausgewertet. Es können die Spektren von unbeimpften und mit Schimmelpilzkulturen beimpften Baumaterialien damit unterscheiden werden ohne die stoffliche Zusammensetzung der Emissionskammerluft zu kennen. Im letzten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde das IMS in 27 Feldversuchen eingesetzt, um MVOC und damit ein Schimmelpilzwachstum in Innenräumen zu detektieren. In 59 % der Fälle wurde eine positive Korrelation zwischen einem sichtbaren Schimmelpilzbefall und den mittels IMS detektierten MVOC ermittelt.
The metabolism of moulds results in the formation of various microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs). These substances can be used as an indicator for the presence of moulds in the indoor environment. Three different mould strains were cultivated on culture media and IMS spectra of gaseous mould metabolites were recorded using a portable mini system with a tritium source and a 5 cm drift cell. The headspace spectra are characteristic for mould species and their age. Typical gaseous components of the metabolites were identified and compared with results obtained from gas chromatography using a mass spectrometer detector. It was observed that the MVOCs formation depends on mould species and their growing stage with a maximum of MVOCs emission occurring during the first 10 days. These preliminary results show that IMS can be applied to detect MVOCs in indoor environment and indicate hidden mould growth.
During their growth on wood many fungi produce characteristic volatile organic compounds as secondary metabolites. These microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) can be used as indicators of fungal growth even when such growth is concealed. In order to investigate the formation of these volatile metabolites on building materials, specimens of pine sapwood on agar media colonized by the dry-rot fungus Serpula lacrymans and a mixture of six moulds were examined. MVOCs from this fungal growth were studied over a period of up to half a year by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) headspace analysis using a sensitive, portable IMS mini-device. The IMS headspace spectra from the growing fungal specimens obtained during this time span are differed from non-incubated wood specimens and indicate the presence of a mixture of MVOCs. The composition and amount of volatile metabolites of the fungi changed during cultivation. This was confirmed by a principal component analysis (PCA). Identification of different MVOCs in the headspace according to drift time and the mobility of ionized gaseous species in reference to GC-MS investigations were proposed. It was concluded that IMS can be used as a rapid and sensitive on-site method to indicate actively growing fungi concealed within wood.
A new planar sensor element for continuous coulometric trace humidity measurements in industrial gases has been developed. In order to ensure precise measurements a calibration facility including a precision dew point hygrometer as a reference device was developed. The sensor can measure the humidity in the frost point temperature range of -20 °C to -80 °C and has an expanded uncertainty of 2 K, a fast reaction time and a settling time of the entire system from 15 to 30 min.
Spices have an important impact on daily aliment. Changes of their quality resulting in far reaching consequences in different foodstuffs and imply financial losing and even health hazard. In this study it is demonstrated that application of two different portable multi gas sensors (electronic nose and ion mobility spectrometer) supported by multivariate data analysis can contribute to ensure quality control of spice mixtures and to find out product adulteration. Headspace above spice mixtures for sausages and saveloy and product counterfeitings was investigated by a metal oxide based electronic nose (e-nose of KAMINA-type). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of sensor resistivity data was performed for differentiation. Simultaneously an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) was coupled to the emission chamber for detection of gaseous components above spice mixtures. The measured spectra show differences between the two spice mixtures and were discussed using a principal component analysis (PCA). The two multigas sensors permit discrimination between the types of spice mixtures and can indicate product adulteration. Additionally, a headspace gas analysis by gas chromatography was performed to identify the main volatile components and to prove the chemical basis for the observed differences of the multi gas sensors.
Es wird ein Sensorsystem (HUMItrace III) zur Spurenfeuchtebestimmung in der Prozessmesstechnik vorgestellt. Die Bestimmung der Spurenfeuchte erfolgt mit neuentwickelten planaren Sensoren (HUMItrace-Sensoren) nach dem coulometrischen Messprinzip im Frostpunkttemperaturbereich von -80 °C bis -30 °C mit der Kalibriereinrichtung THG11 durch Mischen von trockenen und befeuchteten Teilgasströmen kalibriert. Die Gasfeuchte von Luft kann in diesem Bereich mit den HUMItrace-Sensoren mit einer erweiterten Unsicherheit von 2 K bestimmt werden. Die Sensoren können aber auch zur Gasfeuchtemessung in Wasserstoff, Stickstoff und Distickstoffmonoxid eingesetzt werden. Eine weitere Kalibriereinrichtung, THG-P12, generiert Prüfgase nach der Permeationsmethode; sie kann in das HUMItrace III Sensorsystem implementiert und zur vor-Ort-Kalibrierung der HUMItrace-Sensoren nach dem Standardadditionsverfahren genutzt werden.
The Stolt Rotterdam tanker ship, filled with nitric acid, was unloading at the Krefeld-Uerdingen terminal on the Rhine River in November 2001. Nitric acid ran out of the stainless steel tanks into the ship's hull and damaged the structural steel. The ship then caught fire and sank at the terminal. Large quantities of nitrogen oxides were emitted, which drifted towards a residential area. Additionally, a mixture of acid and water was introduced into the Rhine River. The area became hazardous to people and the natural environment; however, the imminent danger for the residents and the environment was reduced because of the protective measures against pollution and the good teamwork between local authorities, fire brigades and the Bayer AG company. The acid was drained off of the ship using a controlled discharge of the acid into the river. Through the use of this measure, the ship was salvaged, limiting the pollution to the area and removing the health hazards to the people and the environment. After the ship was salvaged, the river police, along with assistance from the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, impounded the ship and selected corroded parts for further examination. Some of these components have been examined in detail by the BAM. These material investigations contributed to the elucidation of the origin of the leak in the floor panel. The cause of damage was deemed to be a result of a construction flaw at the enamelled valve on the load and discharge pipes.
The results from the comparative corrosion testing using the original structural steel and 60% acid revealed that the valves began to leak at least 8 h prior to the incident at the terminal.
An experimental investigation has been carried out to characterize and discriminate seven saffron samples and to verify their declared geographical origin using a voltammetric electronic tongue (VE-tongue). The ability of multivariable analysis methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) to classify the saffron samples according to their geographical origin have been investigated. A good discrimination has reached using PCA and HCA in the VE-tongue characterization case. Furthermore, cross validation and Partial Least Square (PLS) techniques were applied in order to build suitable management and prediction models for the determination of safranal concentration in saffron samples based on SPME-GC-MS and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry. The obtained results reveals that some relationships were established between the VE-tongue signal, SPMEGC-MS and UV-Vis spectrophotometry methods to predict safranal concentration levels in saffron samples by using the PLS model. In the light of these results, we can say that the proposed electronic system offer a fast, simple and efficient tool to recognize the declared geographical origin of the saffron samples.
Different electronic sensor systems coupled with multivariate data analysis were applied to characterize and classify seven saffron samples and to verify their declared geographical origin. The proposed electronic sensing consists of a low-cost electronic nose (E-nose) based on metal oxide semiconductor sensors and a voltammetric electronic tongue (VE-tongue) based on voltammetric sensors. The ability of multivariable analysis methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) to classify the saffron samples according to their geographical origin have been investigated. Both PCA and HCA have shown an overlapping of E-nose responses. Moreover, the SVM analysis of the E-nose database reached a 66.07% success rate in the recognition of the saffron sample odour. On the other hand, good discrimination has been reached using PCA and HCA in the VE-tongue characterization case, besides a 100% accuracy in the saffron flavour recognition was attained. To validate the proposed electronic sensing systems, analytical chemical methods such as SPME-GC-MS and UV-Vis spectrophotometry were used. These analytical methods could be helpful tools to identify the composition of volatile compounds of the analysed saffron samples. Moreover, UV-Vis spectrophotometry was also used to determine the non-volatile profile of the samples from different geographic origins. It is demonstrated that the electronic sensing systems' findings are in a satisfactory correlation with the analytical methods. In the light of these results, we might say that the electronic systems offer a fast, simple and efficient tool to recognize the declared geographical origin of the saffron samples.
A portable device for calibration of trace humidity sensors and an adopted calibration procedure have been developed. The calibration device is based on humidity generation by permeating water through polymeric membrane tubes. Water vapour transmission rates for various polymers were experimentally determined in order to select the most suitable polymeric material. The developed trace humidity generator consists of a gas-flow polymeric hose immersed in a water reservoir thermostated by a sensorcontrolled heater. Mole fractions of water vapour between 1 µmol/ molˉ¹ and 350 µmol/molˉ¹ (equivalent to frost-point temperatures from -76 °C to -31 °C) were generated by varying either the operating temperature or gas flow. The operating temperature can be varied from 20 °C to 60 °C and kept stable within 0.1 K. Uncertainty analysis indicated that the trace humidity generator produces gas flows of constant humidity amounts with a relative expanded uncertainty less than 3.4% (k = 2) of the generated value.
The detection of the aroma and flavour volatile compounds of spices is key in product quality control. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop new electronic sensing systems for food adulteration control and authenticity assessment for protecting customer's health.
In this work, the capability of the E-nose and VE-tongue in combination with SPME-GC-MS to correctly discriminate between several cumin samples of different geographical origins and to detect their adulteration, by using unsupervised and supervised chemometric tools, was evaluated. Regarding the aroma profile, eleven volatile compounds were characterized by SPME-GC-MS; all of them were found in cumin powder while only eight are found in cumin seeds. The main volatile compounds detected were b-pinene, m-cymene, g-terpinene, cuminaldehyde and cuminic alcohol, in different proportions depending on the cumin sample form (seed or powder). In summary, the results obtained are sufficiently encouraging as a starting point for the development of new electronic sensing systems with more improvement in the reliability of the sensor's performance as well as chemometric tools in order to deal with a complex dataset.
A metrological approach to improve accuracy and reliability of ammonia measurements in ambient air
(2016)
The environmental impacts of ammonia (NH3) in ambient air have become more evident in the recent decades, leading to intensifying research in this field. A number of novel analytical techniques and monitoring instruments have been developed, and the quality and availability of reference gas mixtures used for the calibration of measuring instruments has also increased significantly. However, recent inter-comparison measurements show significant discrepancies, indicating that the majority of the newly developed devices and reference materials require further thorough validation. There is a clear need for more intensive metrological research focusing on quality assurance, intercomparability and validations. MetNH3 (Metrology for ammonia in ambient air) is a three-year project within the framework of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), which aims to bring metrological traceability to ambient ammonia measurements in the 0.5–500 nmol mol−1 amount fraction range. This is addressed by working in three areas: (1) improving accuracy and stability of static and dynamic reference gas mixtures, (2) developing an optical transfer standard and (3) establishing the link between high-accuracy metrological standards and field measurements. In this article we describe the concept, aims and first results of the project.
The chapter describes the application of electronic noses (multigas sensors) for the quality control of spices and spice mixtures. Electronic noses were successfully applied for headspace analysis of spices. It was demonstrated in many investigations that electronic noses can contribute to the characterization of spices and spice mixtures in order to distinguish spices and spice mixtures, differentiate by origin, growth seasons,and processing,indicate adulteration from original, detect mold infestation. Electronic noses can be used as a fast screening method to provide information about the product quality. However, it needs samples and methods for reference, careful training, and complex calibration to consider influencing and disturbing effects as well as the possible limitations of the instrumentation. The correlation to classical chemical analysis methods is always advisable. Machined olfaction methods are capable to support the sensory analysis; however, they cannot yet substitute them.
Ammonia and its conversion product ammonium have a strong negative impact on human health and ecosystems. Most ammonia measurements in ambient air are performed in the molar fraction range (0.5 to 500) nmol/mol. There is a need for reliable traceable ammonia gas standards as well as in situ analytical procedures for the monitoring of ammonia in ambient air.
The permeation method is an effective tool for dynamically generating precise gas standards with a low uncertainty in the concentration range of a few nmol/mol to several µmol/mol in an inert carrier gas, e. g. pure nitrogen or purified ambient air. Here, we present our ammonia gas standard generator as well as results of the characterisation of its individual components supporting the uncertainty assessment according to GUM for stable gas concentrations in this range.
In order to detect ammonia in the nmol/mol-range, a suitable sensor has to be developed. In this contribution, we therefore additionally present first approaches on the development of such a sensor using optical fluorescence as transduction mechanism due to its intrinsically high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. Incorporation of a fluorescent dye, which shows fluorescence enhancement in the presence of ammonia, into a polymer matrix allows to reversibly recognize low amounts of ammonia. It can be concluded that fluorescence sensor is a robust tool for measurements of ammonia; however it needs calibration for the planed use.
Pollution through emission of toxic gases becomes an increasing problem for the environment in agricultural, industrial and urban areas. In future, environmental emissions as well as ambient air must be monitored at even lower concentrations as nowadays. Consequently, demands arouse for measuring concentrations as low as the lower ppm or even ppb range. Current state-of-the-art technologies, as for instance electrochemical sensors, have reached their limits in this regard.
The developed ammonia gas standard generator produces standard gas mixtures which comply with the metrological traceability for ammonia gas standards in the desired environmentally relevant measurement range of e. g. 0.5 to 500 nmol/mol. This gas standard preparation method is based on the permeation of ammonia through a membrane at a constant temperature as well as the mixing of this permeated gas with a carrier gas to adjust a gas standard of known concentration. The ammonia gas standard is suitable for the calibration of standard optical methods, e. g cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) and multi-gas sensors.
The detection of gaseous ammonia in the lower ppm or even ppb range is obtained by incorporation of a fluorescent dye, which shows fluorescence enhancement in the presence of the analyte, into a polymer support being responsible for the accumulation of the analyte. The use of optical fluorescence as transduction mechanism enables high sensitivity as well as high temporal resolution. Here, we present first results on such a sensor system including the use of the developed gas standard generator for calibration issues. Additional benefits, particularly of fluorescence-based sensors, are their capability for miniaturization and potential multiplex mode. Beside the development of a highly sensitive and selective sensor, the integration of such systems into mobile sensor devices is addressed.
These sensors and sensor systems are developed and will be validated and operated in form of functional models for the application areas, structure-integrated sensors and mobile multi-gas sensors.
The fluorescence properties of three molecular rotors, related to 4-dimethylamino-4-nitrostilbene (4-DNS), are studied versus different diesel/kerosene blends. In nonviscous solvents, these compounds can populate a twisted intramolecular charge transfer state which deactivates nonradiatively, successfully suppressing fluorescence emission. Solution experiments with diesel/kerosene blends showed a good linear correlation between the fluorescence intensity of the probe molecules and the diesel fraction of the blend. The dyes have been immobilized on paper, retaining their fluorescence behavior, i.e., negligible emission in the presence of nonviscous organic solvents and increasing fluorescence when the environment is increasingly viscous. When the impregnated paper is devised as a test strip, the latter is compatible with a newly designed smartphone reader system, which allows in-the-field measurements. The method can safely detect the presence of kerosene in diesel at ≥7%, which competes favorably with current standard methods for the detection of diesel adulteration.
Ammonia and its reaction products can cause considerable damage of human health and ecosystems, increasing the necessity for reliable and reversible sensors to monitor traces of gaseous ammonia in ambient air directly on-site or in the field. Although various types of gas sensors are available, fluorescence sensors have gained importance due to advantages such as high sensitivity and facile miniaturization.
Here, we present the development of a sensor material for the detection of gaseous ammonia in the lower ppm to ppb range by incorporation of a fluorescent dye, which shows reversible fluorescence modulations as a function of analyte concentration, into a polymer matrix to ensure the accumulation of ammonia. A gas standard generator producing standard gas mixtures, which comply with the metrological traceability in the desired environmentally relevant measurement range, was used to calibrate the optical sensor system. To integrate the sensor material into a mobile device, a prototype of a hand-held instrument was developed, enabling straightforward data acquisition over a long period.
Because ammonia and its reaction products can cause considerable damage to human health and ecosystems, there is a need for reliably operating and reversibly interacting sensor materials to monitor traces of gaseous ammonia in ambient air, which at best can be used on-site for in-the-field measurements. Herein, the development of a sensor material for gaseous ammonia in the lower ppm to ppb range using optical fluorescence as transduction mechanism is presented. A fluorescent dye, which shows reversible fluorescence enhancement in the presence of ammonia is incorporated into a polymer matrix, the latter to ensure the accumulation of ammonia. The sensor material is integrated into a prototype of a miniaturized sensor device, facilitating long-term operation. To calibrate the optical sensor system a gas standard generator, producing standard gas mixtures, is used, leading to a sensitivity down to lower ppm concentrations of ammonia.
Pollution through emission of toxic gases is an increasing problem for the environment. It affects similarly agricultural, industrial and urban areas. In future, environmental emissions in ambient air must be monitored at even lower concentrations as nowadays. One environmental relevant compound is ammonia and its conversion product ammonium that have strong negative impact on human health and ecosystems. Most ammonia measurements in ambient air are performed in the range below 1000 nmol·mol-1 and thus there is a need for reliable traceable ammonia gas standards and in addition in situ analytical procedures for monitoring (in ambient air to avoid that thresholds are exceeded). Therefore, the use of reference materials is necessary for development accompanying test or for calibration, e. g. of structure-integrated sensors and mobile multi-gas sensors.
The developed gas standard generator produces gas mixtures that comply with the metrological traceability for ammonia gas standards in the desired environmentally relevant measurement range. The method is based on the permeation of ammonia through a membrane at constant temperature and pressure. The resulting ammonia penetrant gas flow is then mixed with a carrier gas flow to generate a gas standard flow of known concentration. The dynamic rage is enlarged by using a two dilution steps. Depending on the permeation rate, generable molar fractions are possible in the range nmol·mol-1 to a few µmol·mol-1. We present the design of an ammonia gas standard generator and first results of the characterisation of its individual components supporting the uncertainty assessment according to GUM for stable gas concentrations in this range. The relative uncertainty of the generated ammonia gas standard is smaller than 4 % (k = 2).
Die Spurenfeuchte von technischen Gasen kann zuverlässig mit coulometrischen Feuchtesensoren bestimmt werden. Das Prinzip dieser Sensoren basiert auf der Absorption von Wasser in einer hygroskopischen Schicht und anschließenderelektrolytischer Zersetzung. Die Kalibrierung der Sensoren erfolgte mit einem Spurenfeuchtegenerator bei Frostpunkttemperaturen kleiner als -30 °C bzw. einem Volumenanteil kleiner als 376 µL·L-1. Die generierte Feuchte wurde zusätzlich zu den coulometrischen Sensoren mit einem Taupunktspiegelhygrometer, welches als Referenz diente, gemessen. Zwischen dem coulometrischen Sensorsignal und der gemessenen Referenzfeuchte wurde eine empirische nichtlinare Funktion gefunden. Die resultierende Kalibrierungsfunktion, die aus zwei Parametern besteht, wurde hinsichtlich ihrer Messunsicherheit bewertet.
Zusätzlich erfolgt die Überprüfung der Kalibrierparameter mittels einfaktorieller Varianzanalyse (ANOVA). Die ANOVA zeigte, dass eine gemittelte Funktion für die Feuchtigkeitbestimmung in Stickstoff, Helium und synthetischer Luft für mehrere Sensoren angewendet werden kann.
Mit coulmetrischen Sensoren ist es möglich, die Spurenfeuchte in technischen Gasen mit einer erweitereten Unsicherheit hinsichtlich der Frostpunkttemperatur kleiner als 2,1 K zu ermitteln.
Planar coulometric sensors were tested in humidified synthetic air at various gas temperatures. Generated frost point temperature in the gas ranged from -30 °C to -60 °C and were measured by coulometric sensors and in addition by a calibrated dew point hygrometer. The gas temperatures, which were measured by a calibrated Pt100 sensor, were set to -20 °C, 0 °C, 23 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C during the experiments. Empiric nonlinear functions were calculated between the generated humidity and the sensor signals. In comparison to the measured signals at 23 °C, the sensor signals were lower at the other gas temperatures. The measurements at 60 °C showed indistinct results due to a great signal noise. The response behavior of the sensors was similar at 23 °C, 40 °C and 50 °C. In contrast to that, the sensors reacted slowly at a gas temperature of -20 °C and 0 °C. In summary, with coulometric sensors it was possible to measure continuously trace humidity with an expanded uncertainty below 2 K.
Innovation is the catalyst for the technology of the future. It is important to develop new and better technologies that can continuously monitor the environmental impact, e.g., for air quality control or emission detection. In the recently at BAM developed Universal Pump Sensor Control (UPSC3) module, different components and sensors are fused. The combination of the individual components makes the UPSC3 module an excellent monitoring and reference system for the development and characterization of gas specific sensors. Measurements over long periods are possible, for mixed gas loads or for certain gas measurements. The system is part of a mobile sensor network of several sensor units, which can also be used as standalone systems.
The motivation and objective of this research is to develop gas sensors based on fluorescence detection with range of ppm / ppb. For this task a reference system is required, which contains volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors for reference data from different scenarios. The integrated multi-sensor unit can measure different gases through the integrated 3-fold VOC sensor, which can be adapted to the addressed scenario. . The system-integrated flow control, with pump and flow sensor, allows the gas molecules to be transported directly to the VOC sensor. The entire measurement is permanently stored on an integrated memory card. If the previously determined limit range is exceeded, an alarm is generated. The system is an important tool towards further developments in the field of gas sensors and is primarily used for the validation of chemically based gas sensors.
Leaking methane (CH4) from infrastructures, such as pipelines and landfills, is critical for the environment but can also pose a safety risk. To enable a fast detection and localization of these kind of leaks, we developed a novel robotic platform for aerial remote gas sensing. Spectroscopic measurement methods for remote sensing of selected gases lend themselves for use on mini-copters, which offer a number of advantages for inspection and surveillance over traditional methods. No direct contact with the target gas is needed and thus the influence of the aerial platform on the measured gas plume can be kept to a minimum. This allows to overcome one of the major issues with gas-sensitive mini-copters. On the other hand, remote gas sensors, most prominently Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) sensors have been too bulky given the payload and energy restrictions of mini-copters. Here, we present the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Remote Gas Sensing (UAV-REGAS), which combines a novel lightweight TDLAS sensor with a 3-axis aerial stabilization gimbal for aiming on a versatile hexacopter. The proposed system can be deployed in scenarios that cannot be addressed by currently available robots and thus constitutes a significant step forward for the field of Mobile Robot Olfaction (MRO). It enables tomographic reconstruction of gas plumes and a localization of gas sources. We also present first results showing its performance under realistic conditions.
In the KonSens Project, sensor systems are developed, validated, and operated in form of functional models for the application areas Structure Integrated Sensors and Mobile Multi-gas Sensors. Key aspects are the detection and evaluation of corrosion processes in reinforced concrete structures as well as the detection and quantification of very low concentrations of toxic gases in air. The adaption of sensor principles from the lab into real-life application including appropriate communication techniques is a major task.
In recent years, Structural Health Monitoring have gained in importance, since growing age of buildings and infrastructure as well as increasing load requirements demand for reliable surveillance methods. In this regard, the project follows two strategies: First, the development and implementation of completely embedded sensor systems consisting of RFID-tag and in situ sensors, and their further application potential (e.g. for precast concrete elements, roadways, wind power plants, and maritime structures). Secondly, the development of a long-term stable, miniaturized, fiber optic sensor for a ratiometric and referenced measurement of the pH-value in concrete based on fluorescence detection as an indicator for carbonation and corrosion.
Environmental pollution through emission of toxic gases becomes an increasing problem not only in agriculture (e.g. biogas plants) and industry but also in urban areas. This leads to increasing demand to monitor environmental emissions as well as ambient air and industrial air components in many scenarios and in even lower concentrations than nowadays. The selectivity of luminescence-based sensors is enabled by the combination of the sensing dye and the material, which is used as accumulation medium for concentration of the analyte. This principle allows for developing gas sensors with high selectivity and sensitivity of defined substances. Additional benefits, particularly of fluorescence-based sensors, are their capability for miniaturization and potential multiplex mode. Objective is the development and implementation of sensors based on fluorescence detection for defined toxic gases (ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, ozone, and benzene) with sensitivity in the low ppm or even ppb range. Additionally, the integration of such sensors in mobile sensor devices is addressed.
This article describes the application of the ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) as a technical link in the screening within the airfreight transport chain. Air freight is of very important also for German foreign trade. Every year around 4.3 Mt of freight are loaded at German airports and transported by air planes. The average value of a transported metric ton freight was approximately 81,000 € in 2015. Nearly 50 percent of the total air freight is transported in passenger planes as belly freight. Measures are necessary to detect illegal, dangerous items such as weapons, ammunition or improvised explosive devices (IED) to protect against attacks on air traffic security. The aim is to increase security in air traffic and at the same time contemporary increasing or at least unchanged efficiency in the airfreight transport chain.
IMS is a suitable instrumental technology for the trace detection of explosives (ETD) and their precursors orthogonal to radiological x-ray measurements on suspicious freight within 30 seconds and per EU regulation 2015/1998, section 6.2. The ECAC* certified ETD system QS-B220 was used. The IMS performance is demonstrated on three target compounds, TNT, RDX and PETN. The results’ evaluation of this semi-quantitative screening is carried out by using statistical methods for reliability assessment, such as probability of detection (POD) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Their detection limits with a POD = 0.90 are determined after swab sampling on various surfaces. These screening results provide an objective decision-making aid to responsible control personnel in addition to x-ray measurements, whether there are or are no dangerous substances or objects in the cargo.
*) ECAC = European Civil Aviation Conference
The objective of this work is to report the improvement obtained in the discrimination of complex aroma and taste with subtle differences in odor and flavor, by the use of fast suitable procedures for the cases of measurements in the field demanding decision-making in real time. The proposed electronic sensing systems, formed by an E-nose and VE-tongue, were used to discriminate cumin cultivars from different geographical origins, as well as to quantify the cumin adulteration percentages by using unsupervised and supervised chemometric tools. Thus, the results obtained are sufficiently encouraging as a starting point for the development of new electronic sensing systems with more improvement such the reliability of the sensors’ performance as well as the chemometric tools in order to deal with a complex dataset.
The efficiency of gas sensor application for facilitating the safe use of hydrogen depends considerably on the sensor response to a change in hydrogen concentration. Therefore, the response time has been measured for five different-type commercially available hydrogen sensors. Experiments showed that all these sensors surpass the ISO 26142 standard; for the response times t90 values of 2 s to 16 s were estimated. Results can be fitted with an exponential or sigmoidal function. It can be demonstrated that the results on transient behaviour depend on both the operating parameters of sensors and Investigation methods, as well as on the experimental conditions: gas change rate and concentration jump.
Ionische Flüssigkeiten als neuartige Sensorbeschichtung für coulometrische Spurenfeuchtesensoren
(2018)
Die Arbeit präsentiert erste Messungen mit coulometrischen Sensoren, die mit einer ionischen Flüssigkeit beschichtet sind. Diese Sensoren werden in der Industrie verwendet, um die Spurenfeuchte in unterschiedlichen Gasen zu messen. Normalerweise erfolgt eine Beschichtung der Sensoren mit Phosphorpentoxid und dessen Hydrolyseprodukte. In dieser Arbeit wurde stattdessen eine hygroskopische ionische Flüssigkeit benutzt. Die generierte Gasfeuchte für die Untersuchungen betrug bezogen auf die Frostpunkttemperatur -80 °C bis -30 °C, was gleichbedeutend mit einem Wasserdampf-Stoffmengenanteil von 0,5 μmol·mol-1 bis 376 μmol·mol-1 ist. Zusätzlich zu der Messung mit coulometrischen Sensoren erfolgte eine Referenzmessung der Gasfeuchte mittels eines Taupunkthygrometers. Erste Ergebnisse haben gezeigt, dass es möglich ist mit dieser Art der Beschichtung unterschiedliche Gasfeuchten zu messen. Aber es ergaben sich trotz gleicher Feuchte unterschiedliche Signalintensitäten bei den benutzen Sensoren und es zeigte sich eine Drift des Sensorsignales.
Technische Richtlinien enthalten Empfehlungen sowie Anforderungen zum Stand der Technik zur Aufstellung von Bewertungskriterien und Behandlung wissenschaftlich-technischer Fragen. Sie fördern den Erfahrungsaustausch und Technologietransfer zwischen Entwicklern und Anwendern.
In unserem Beitrag stellen wir die Richtlinie VDI/VDE 3518 vor. Diese Richtlinienreihe definiert Begriffe, beschreibt den Aufbau und klassifiziert Multigassensoren (Blatt 1), befasst sich mit den Anforderungen für das Unterscheiden, Erkennen und mengenmäßige Bestimmen von Gemischen gasförmiger Stoffe und die Prüfung von Multigassensoren (Blatt 2) und gibt Anleitung für geruchsbezogene Messungen mit „Elektronischen Nasen“ (Blatt 3). Multigassensoren können als elektronische Nasen in Anlehnung an den biologischen Geruchssinn zur Wahrnehmung und Charakterisierung von Gerüchen eingesetzt werden. Die Spezifik von Multigassensoren besteht darin, dass durch die Wahl und Betriebsweise der Sensoren eine Vielzahl von geeigneten Messsignalen erzeugt werden, aus denen mit mathematischen Verfahren die für die Anwendung gewünschten Informationen extrahiert werden. Dazu ist ein Training der Messeinrichtung mit Proben bekannter Eigenschaften notwendig.
Diese Richtlinie soll Herstellern, Anbietern und Nutzern als ein Leitfaden Informationen und Erläuterungen für die korrekte und sichere Arbeit mit Multigassensoren liefern. Sie soll Prüflaboratorien und Anwendern helfen, bei der Beurteilung von Qualitätsmerkmalen einheitlich vorzugehen und dafür gemeinsame Randbedingungen anzugeben
Leaking methane (CH4) from infrastructures, such as pipelines and landfills, is critical for the environment but can also pose a safety risk. To enable a fast detection and localization of these kind of leaks, we developed a novel robotic platform for aerial remote gas sensing. Spectroscopic measurement methods for remote sensing of selected gases lend themselves for use on mini-copters, which offer a number of advantages for inspection and surveillance over traditional methods. No direct contact with the target gas is needed and thus the influence of the aerial platform on the measured gas plume can be kept to a minimum. This allows to overcome one of the major issues with gas-sensitive mini-copters. On the other hand, remote gas sensors, most prominently Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) sensors have been too bulky given the payload and energy restrictions of mini-copters. Here, we present the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Remote Gas Sensing (UAV-REGAS), which combines a novel lightweight TDLAS sensor with a 3-axis aerial stabilization gimbal for aiming on a versatile hexacopter. The proposed system can be deployed in scenarios that cannot be addressed by currently available robots and thus constitutes a significant step forward for the field of Mobile Robot Olfaction (MRO). It enables tomographic reconstruction of gas plumes and a localization of gas sources. We also present first results showing its performance under realistic conditions.
Pollution through emission of toxic gases is an increasing problem for the environment. It affects similarly agricultural, industrial and urban areas. In future, environmental emissions in ambient air must be monitored at even lower concentrations as nowadays. One environmental relevant compound is ammonia and its conversion product ammonium that have strong negative impact on human health and ecosystems. Most ammonia measurements in ambient air are performed in the range below 1000 nmol·mol 1 and thus there is a need for reliable traceable ammonia gas standards and in addition in situ analytical procedures for monitoring (in ambient air to avoid that thresholds are exceeded). Therefore, the use of reference materials is necessary for development accompanying test or for calibration, e. g. of structure-integrated sensors and mobile multi-gas sensors.
The developed gas standard generator produces gas mixtures that comply with the metrological traceability for ammonia gas standards in the desired environmentally relevant measurement range. The method is based on the permeation of ammonia through a membrane at constant temperature and pressure. The resulting ammonia penetrant gas flow is then mixed with a carrier gas flow to generate a gas standard flow of known concentration. The dynamic rage is enlarged by using a two dilution steps. Depending on the permeation rate, generable molar fractions are possible in the range nmol·mol-1 to a few µmol·mol-1. We present the design of an ammonia gas standard generator and first results of the characterisation of its individual components supporting the uncertainty assessment according to GUM for stable gas concentrations in this range. The relative uncertainty of the generated ammonia gas standard is smaller than 4 % (k = 2).
Im Projekt KonSens werden für die Anwendungsbei-
spiele bauteilintegrierte Sensorik für Betonkomponen-
ten und mobile Multigassensorik Sensorsysteme in
Form von Funktionsmustern entwickelt, validiert und
angewendet. Schwerpunkte liegen einerseits in der
Detektion und Bewertung von Korrosionsprozessen in
Beton und andererseits in der Detektion und Quantifi-
zierung sehr geringer Konzentrationen toxischer Gase
in der Luft. Dabei ist die Adaption der sensorischen
Methoden aus dem Labor in reale Messumgebungen
inklusive geeigneter Kommunikationstechnik ein
wichtiger Aspekt.
Innovation is the catalyst for the technology of the future. It is important to develop new and better technologies that can continuously monitor the environmental impact, e.g., for air Quality control or emission detection. In the recently at BAM developed Universal Pump Sensor Control (UPSC3) module, different components and sensors are fused. The combination of the individual components makes the UPSC3 module an excellent monitoring and reference system for the development and characterization of gas specific sensors. Measurements over long periods are possible, for mixed gas loads or for certain gas measurements. The System is part of a mobile sensor network of several sensor units, which can also be used as standalone systems.