Conclusion

The development of chemical gas sensors is currently booming, as the need to detect compounds in the atmosphere is growing. In this context, the detection of VOCs in the atmosphere is very important, although no reliable commercial system exists today. This is why CEA Le Ripault is working on a multisensor based on eight quartz microbalances, which should eventually enable the detection of several VOCs with a single detector. Initial results obtained on the installation developed in 2003 have shown that the quartz multi-microbalance approach is viable for discriminating between different VOCs and ultimately offering a multi-gas detector. Areas for improvement in the coming months include the choice of sensitive material combination, determination of relevant parameters and data processing.

The development of a portable gas detector combining several sensors has...