4. Conclusion
The apparatus presented here is based on known components and the principles of operation are well known from traditional gas chromatography and SPME. It allows a global measurement of the volatile substances present in a headspace. Like in an electronic nose, the signal is directly proportional to the quantity of the volatile substances in the headspace. The quantification is in most cases sufficient to monitor an industrial process. One great advantage of the proposed method is that the same sampling procedure can be applied for a gas chromatographic separation, allowing a more qualitative insight in the process under control, an other advantage being the ease of the interpretation of the obtained data. The reproducibility of the signal is high and the signal obtained is not influenced by the presence of water. This later feature is a significant advantage over comparative devices. The applications for such a device are very promising in the areas of quality control and monitoring the efficiency of chemical and manufacturing processes.