Mobile Odor Testers for Soils or Granular Materials

Localization and characterization of volatile organic pollutants in soils is the aim of a rapid on-site analysis. In order to evaluate the potential of an electronic nose for direct online detection of volatile soil pollutants. Model gas exposures and practical tests were performed using KAMINA, the Karlsruhe MicroNose with two different sampling assemblies in direct sniffing mode. Odor testing with an electronic nose is nothing else than gas analysis of usually complex gas ensembles in an integral manner. Contrary to the classical description of a gas mixture as a sum of components with individual concentrations the electronic nose detects the gas ensemble as an entity with an integral concentration. However, similar to human odor perception the integral can be quantitatively divided into components which themselves may be complex mixtures. Owing to the measuring principle all pollutants are detectable as long as their volatility makes them appear in the gas phase. Therefore the term ‘odor’ should be understood as a pollutant signature in the gas phase no matter whether the human nose can smell it or not.