Development of a VOCs analyzer for measuring pesticide emission by a low-cost electronic nose

Abstract

Abstract: This work aims to develop an analyzer which detects volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from pesticides applied via aerial spray. A metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) gas sensor was chosen for use as an electronic nose (e-nose). For the fabrication of the VOCs analyzer, and the reliable hardware and software designs, an airflow intake system was used to speed up the precise pesticide concentration analysis in the electronic nose system. A control logic was used for quantitative detection of the VOCs mixtures. To evaluate the performance of the VOCs analyzer, two kinds of pesticide were tested. The VOCs analyzer successfully distinguished the concentrations of both pesticides efficiently with a low cost, which promises the potential for use as a universal VOCs analysis platform for the detection of pesticide emissions. Using this VOCs analyzer, the relative error was 5.2% over field testing. It can be used to detect the concentration of pesticides in cotton fields since it is practical, feasible and accurate. Keywords: e-nose, gas sensor, VOCs analyzer, pesticide emission DOI: 10.33440/j.ijpaa.20210401.152 Citation: Zhu H, Lan Y B, Ding N Y, Wang L. Development of a VOCs analyzer for measuring pesticide emission by a low-cost electronic nose. Int J Precis Agric Aviat, 2021; 4(1): 1–5.