Age Analysis of Jasmine Concrete Using Electronic Nose

Abstract

The effect of aging on quality of jasmine (Jasminum Sambac) concrete in terms of aroma was studied with the intention of estimating the shelf life of this highly priced export oriented commodity. A handheld electronic nose was developed and customized to find out aroma intensity of fresh and aged commercial concrete samples. The same fresh and aged samples were also analyzed with the help of a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Between first and final experiment, the samples were kept in air-tight containers. The electronic nose showed very high sensitivity toward the concrete’s aroma molecules and could detect aroma volatiles from concrete samples at a minimum sample weight of 0.05 g. The e-nose also showed the decrease in aroma intensity in the samples with aging. The GC-MS results established a strong correlation with the e-nose observations. The aroma intensity of concrete was observed to be decreased almost linearly over a period of one year. Electronic nose has been found to be a potent tool for rapid prediction of concrete age.