Presented by: Ken McGary, Apis-US, Inc.

Summary: Performance of modern low-cost sensor networks is fast approaching the realm of full-on reference instruments. Electrochemical and PID gas detection levels are now often in the low single-digit-ppb domain, and inexpensive optical particle counters can show impressive correlation to reference-grade analyzers. However, a major drawback remains the inability to speciate detected pollution levels of both Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs) and Particulate Matter (PM).

Apis solves this problem with our Data Fusion platform, using sensitive broadband sensors, sophisticated anomaly detection, and our new Capture Box accessory to collect ambient air samples for lab analysis using tried and trusted methods. For VOCs this means triggered subatmospheric pressure sampling with SUMMA canisters and GC/MS back in the lab. For particulates, a triggered hi-volume sampler such as the Tisch Environmental HiVol can be used to collect samples for various physical or chemical characterizations. 

In either case, the time-consuming hit-and-miss nature of ambient sampling is refocused on sampling during pollution “events” recognized in real time, vastly increasing the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these expensive analytical procedures. These selective sampling techniques are already paying dividends in a Colorado sensor network deployment near oil and gas drilling sites. We are now also deploying VOC capture stations in a variety of industrial and community projects, and are looking for new partners to further expand the usefulness of this new paradigm based on well-established analytical methods.

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