Instead of using physical sensors, the zNose™ (above) creates hundreds of virtual chemical sensors to identify the makeup of smells.
Click here to enlarge imageNEWBURY PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) After two years of beta testing and performance validation by the U.S. EPA, a company has an electronic nose which can sniff out a wide range of substances including volatile organic chemicals (VOCs).
The highly reliable electronic nose, called zNose, now is offered in commercial benchtop and handheld versions.
The first electronic nose technology to receive government validation from both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was presented recently at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society being held in San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Dr. Edward J. Staples described details of the new device, called a zNose, and the validation process by which it was tested to analytical chemists from around the world. Staples works as chief scientist and managing director of Electronic Sensor Technology, LP., the company which produces the zNose.
Previous attempts by researchers and scientists to develop electronic noses, called eNoses, based upon non-specific physical sensor arrays, have failed to gain validation because the devices cannot be calibrated according to EPA or FDA methods, Staples said. But the zNose contains only a single patented sensor, a programmable gate array (PGA) to control the sensor and a directly-heated 1-meter long capillary chromatography column.
The device can speciate and measure the concentration of individual chemicals contained within odors and fragrances in 10 seconds. Instead of using physical sensors, it creates hundreds of virtual chemical sensors. It simultaneously creates high-resolution visual olfactory images, called VaporPrints, which can be recognized by humans without any sense of smell.
The EPA validated the product for well monitoring and soil testing because it can quantify environmental pollutants. The electronic nose also can interface directly with GPS receivers and operate remotely over an Internet connection.
Although first developed for sniffing out drugs, explosives and environmental pollution, the instrument now is becoming popular with quality control users in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical processing industries, who now account for the majority of the company's customers. Sutter Home, one of the larger California wineries, now is using the product to quantify the concentrations of chemicals in wine.
The instrument can detect almost any vapor in the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) group, explained Ken Zeiger, Director of Operations for EST. "As an example," he said, "if there is a well near a leaking gas tank, you would see the vapors of the gasoline in the water. If you are near a military base (such as Tinker AFB, Midwest City, Okla.) where degreasers are used, you may find TCE and PCE in the water."
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