Analysis of Odour Interactions in Model Gas Mixtures using Electronic Nose and Fuzzy Logic

Abstract

Measurement and monitoring of air quality in terms of odour nuisance is an important problem. Although the source of these nuisances is different (e.g. wastewater treatment plants, municipal landfills), their common feature is that they are a complex mixture of odorants with different odour thresholds. An additional problem is occurrence of the odour interactions between mixture components. From a practical point of view, it would be most valuable to directly link the odour intensity with the results of analytical air monitoring. This would allow the on-line odour monitoring using electronic noses, which perform a holistic analysis of the gas mixtures composition (like olfactometric methods). The paper presents the possibility of application of fuzzy logic to determine the odour intensity and indicate odour interactions in model, five-component gas mixtures (acetone, a-pinene, formaldehyde, toluene and triethylamine) using electronic nose prototype. As the results of the studies, it was found the electronic nose prototype along with the fuzzy logic pattern recognition system can be successfully used for this application. The results obtained using fuzzy logic are consistent with sensory analysis results in 80%.