Sniffing out emissions

A new system that uses a sensing technology more commonly found inside power plants is to monitor bad odours and methane gas escaping from landfill sites.

The device was developed by researchers from Manchester University, and will help waste management companies to track nuisance emissions and odours, according to the project team.

Based on an array of metal oxide sensors the system can detect the tell-tale signature of certain organic compounds in the air. It monitors the change in conductivity of the metal oxide as gas is absorbed by its surface. The sensor was developed by Prof Krishna Persaud from the university’s chemical engineering department.

‘The technology itself has been around a while but this is the first time it has been used in an environmental capacity,’ said Persaud. ‘By deploying an array of these instruments around a landfill site we can get continuous, real-time monitoring of gas and odour emissions.’