Chemical Species Concentration Measurement via Wireless Sensors

This paper describes studies carried out to investigate the viability of using wireless cameras as a tool in monitoring changes in air quality. A camera is used to monitor the change in colour of a chemically responsive polymer within view of the camera as it is exposed to varying chemical species concentration levels. The camera captures this image and the colour change is analyzed by averaging the RGB values present. This novel chemical sensing approach is compared with an established chemical sensing method using the same chemically responsive polymer coated onto LEDs. In this way, the concentration levels of acetic acid in the air can be tracked using both approaches. These approaches to chemical plume tracking have many applications for air quality monitoring.




References:
[1] EPA, Ireland, "Focus on Environmental Enforcement 2004-2005", 2005,
pp 23-30.
[2] B. M. Kiernan, W. Guo, C. Slater, J. Hayes, and D. Diamond,
"Autonomous monitoring of landfill gas migration at borehole wells on
landfill sites using wireless technology". Proceedings of the 10th
International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology,
Kos Island, Greece, Vol. A, 2007, pp. 679-685.
[3] C. M. McGraw, S. E. Stitzel, J. Cleary, C. Slater and Dermot Diamond,
"Autonomous microfluidic system for phosphate detection", Talanta,
Volume 71, Issue 3, 2007, pp. 1180-1185.
[4] D. Diamond, S. Coyle, S. Scarmagnani, and J. Hayes, "Wireless Sensor
Networks and Chemo-/Biosensing", Chem. Rev., 108, 2, 2008, pp. 652-
679.
[5] M. O- Toole, K.T. Lau and D. Diamond, "Integrated PEDD flow
analysis device as optical sensor for colorimetric detection", Talanta 66,
2005, pp. 1340-1344.
[6] K.T. Lau, R. Shepherd and D. Diamond, "Solid state pH sensor based on
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) as detector platform", Sensors 6, 2006, pp.
848-859.
[7] R. Shepherd, S. Beirne, K.T. Lau, B. Corcoran, D. Diamond,
"Monitoring chemical plumes in an environmental sensing chamber with
a wireless chemical sensor network", Sensors and Actuators B:
Chemical, Volume 121, Issue 1, Special Issue: 25th Anniversary of
Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2007, pp. 142-149.