Code: 195. Electronic nose: Machine for Analytical Control of odors on Recycled Materials

Recycled materials , which are raw materials coming from the selection of waste, in their various states of life (loose, bales, ground, granules), or the final product, created through the processes of recycling, can bring with them gradients and types of odors that can be more or less unpleasant to operators or end customers.

The sensation of whether or not the smell is accepted is completely subjective and depends on an infinite series of sensory evaluations: what for me could be an acceptable smell, for the customer could be an unbearable home. 

The human nose is sensitive e, but different between person and person in intercepting odors and, above all, it is not able to accurately catalog an equal level of odorous compounds, nor the repetition of intensity of the smells it intercepts.

What a company produces, in terms of smell in a product, whether it is a raw material or a finished element, must be cataloged in a completely analytical way , without approximation, to determine standards that can be accepted by both the producer and the customer, so that all subsequent productions can fall within the established ranges.

Defining and being able to replicate a range of odors accepted by the parties is not only an increase in the qualitative service of the product itself and of the company, but also a guarantee towards the end customer who can reasonably know that the odor intensity can be cataloged and managed with accuracy.

Let's see some examples where an "electronic nose" can make the difference:

• Producers of PET trays, receiving the recycled granule or ground, can analytically evaluate the odor intensity of the raw material and give the producer himself some standards not to be exceeded to avoid problems on the trays in the distribution chain.

• Producers of beverages in PET bottles can establish with certainty not only the maximum odor levels accepted on the raw material, but they can determine whether the product contained in the bottles may undergo transfers by the plastic bottle of odorous substances that can affect the quality of their product.

• The producers of raw materials can establish with their customers the maximum odor ranges acceptable to both, through an analytical analysis of the raw material sold in order to guarantee a certain quality of the product.

• The manufacturers of bottles for detergents , for care, for perfumed liquids need to purchase recycled HDPE raw material that has an odor content coming from surfactants such that they do not interact negatively with the final packaging on store shelves or can alter the fragrance of the liquids or powders contained.

• Manufacturers of furniture or packaging for industrial logistics that use post-consumer PP, HDPE and LDPE must be able to establish with certainty the incidence of the smells of the raw materials they buy, in order to establish limits that cannot negatively affect the final product they distribute.

• We could continue to cite other examples in which the lack of a certain classification of odors can often lead to the dispute of materials, with considerable costs and degeneration of customer-supplier relationships.

Through the use of an odorous substance analyzer , a laboratory machine that uses raw material samples or pieces of final products, therefore in the form of granules, ground, liquid , etc ..., which are heated, creating volatile substances inside the test tube, which are then chemically analyzed and compared, through an analysis program , thus creating a precise picture of the types and intensity.

The machine allows you to compare also standard samples and therefore accepted by the parties, with the various production samples in order to intercept any deviations and immediately evaluate production corrections.

The results of the analyzes return a precise photograph , not only of the odor intensity, but also of the types of chemical compounds present in the samples that produce the mix of odors, so as to be able to intervene in a precise and timely manner.

The tool that analytically analyzes the smells or fragrances of volatile substances contained in products is also used in the food sector to unmask food sophistications such as, for example, those of olive oil, for check the compositions of the coffee, to evaluate the freshness of the food or the transfer of substances contained in the packaging to the food.

Machine data:

GAS FlavourSpec® package GAS4400-000-000

Ion mobility spectrometer with chromatographic pre-separation to measure traces of VOC in liquids and solids :

• Ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) including: radioactive source 3H (tritium) 300 MBq -

below the exemption limit acc. to the EURATOM directive - no license required)

- open system with external gas drift (N2, synthetic air)

• Gas chromatographic capillary column

• Heated IMS, column, injector

• Injector for sample introduction (splitless)

• 2 EPC (Electronic Pressure Controller) units for drift and carrier gas control

General Specifications

• Standalone operation - computer unit integrated into the system

• 6.4 ”TFT display for viewing data

• Pulse rotary encoder for data entry and instrument control

• Motherboard with dual core processor (1.6 GHz)

• Flash memory (16 GB)

• 2 RS232 / USB / Ethernet i / o interfaces

• 3 mm adapter (Swagelok) for the introduction of drift gas

• 9 ”case - dimensions 449 x 435 x 177 mm

• Power supply: external 100-240 V AC, 24V DC / 8.3A internal XLR connector

• Consumption <200 Watt

• Weight: 15.5 kg

Operational features

• Visualization of the measurement stroke

• Access to all parameters relevant for the development of the method (temperature, flow rates)

• Firmware controlled switch (+/-) of the high voltage polarity

• Compilation of substance lists (based on drift and elution time)

• Adjustable alarm thresholds

• Manual and automatic operation incl. data acquisition / analysis

• Purification system for cleaning

• Data download via USB port

GAS 4400-000-500 PC software package

• Laboratory analytical viewer for

• data visualization

• organization of data

• tools for analyzing and exporting data

• control of measurement properties

• Plug-in: "Gallery-Plot", "Reporter", CSV-Export

HT2000H Autosampler

• Autosampler for FlavourSpec 42 pos

• FlavourSpec Kit (193.420)

LS N2GAS Nitrogen generator

• Nitrogen generator for FlavorSpec

• Air compressor

PC (Lenovo)

• with installed software: English keyboard, full HD dsplay resolution, SSD drive

WINDOWS 10 installed, Intel CPU, RJ45 Ethernet por

Origin: Italy

Category: Machines and molds - electronic nose - plastic material recycling - odors - gas chromatography

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