Decentralized, small scale anaerobic digestion: UK-Thailand technology exchange

Decentralized, small scale anaerobic digestion: UK-Thailand technology exchang

Wearable gas sensors

Wearable sensing applications have attracted much attention in recent years. The aim of the FP6 funded Proetex project is improving safety and efficiency of emergency personnel by developing integrated wearable sensor systems. This paper describes recent developments in the integration of sensing platforms into wearables for the continuous monitoring of environmentally harmful gases surrounding emergency personnel. Low-power miniature CO and CO2 sensors have been successfully integrated in a jacket collar and boot worn by emergency personnel. These sensors need to provide information about the level of gas in the surrounding environment without obstructing the activities of the wearer. This has been achieved by integrating special pockets on the jacket and boot of fire-fighters. Each sensor is attached to a sensing module for signal accommodation and data transfer. The sensor performance has been evaluated by simulation of real-life situations. These wearable gas sensors will dramatically improve personnel awareness of potential hazard and can function as a personal warning system. In this way, fire-fighter’s jacket and boot not only protect the wearer, but have a second function of providing valuable information on external hazards. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Science Foundation Ireland (07/CE/I1147) and the EU project FP6-2004-IST-4-026987. We also acknowledge contribution of University of Pisa (Italy), Zarlink Semiconductor (UK), and Diadora/Invicta Group (Italy)

Ion-selective electrodes in real-life applications: can we reduce or even eliminate the need for calibration?

The recent success in lowering of the low detection limit of ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) has opened up new application areas (most notably environmental analysis). The new possibilities have intensified issues that weren’t critical in other application fields. In particular, the potential of ISEs to be integrated as detector systems in autonomous, deployable devices for environmental analysis have opened the question of the measure of uncertainty in prediction of unknown concentration based on calibration as well as the necessity of reduction or even elimination of calibration itself. Here we point out the need for the maximal efficiency of using obtained results based on utilization of solid-contact ISEs for heavy metal analysis in soil. We advocate altering the current definition of detection limit and using signal-to-noise ratio as suggested earlier by Bakker and Pretsch.[1] We also suggest new method for jointly estimating the calibration curve and the unknown concentrations using all the data. This method is in statistical analysis called Bayesian analysis. It allows more accurate prediction of unknown concentration, especially near and even below the detection limit. Furthermore, it allows using of multiple sensors (without disregarding poor performing sensors) which will allow further tightening of the prediction intervals. Finally, we will present initial work on developing “calibrationless” chemical sensors where we use ISEs as model system. We are developing tests that will enable us to understand whether the surface or the bulk of the membrane has been altered (i.e. due to biofouling or poisoning of the electrode surface) thus avoiding the need to re-calibrate the sensors. [1] Bakker E. Pretsch E; Trends Anal. Chem.; 2005, 24, (3), 19

Wearable sensing application- carbon dioxide monitoring for emergency personnel using wearable sensors

The development of wearable sensing technologies is a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor integration with wireless data transmission

Fibers and fabrics for chemical and biological sensing

Wearable sensors can be used to monitor many interesting parameters about the wearer’s physiology and environment, with important applications in personal health and well-being, sports performance and personal safety. Wearable chemical sensors can monitor the status of the wearer by accessing body fluids, such as sweat, in an unobtrusive manner. They can also be used to protect the wearer from hazards in the environment by sampling potentially harmful gas emissions such as carbon monoxide. Integrating chemical sensors into textile structures is a challenging and complex task. Issues which must be considered include sample collection, calibration, waste handling, fouling and reliability. Sensors must also be durable and comfortable to wear. Here we present examples of wearable chemical sensors that monitor the person and also their environment. We also discuss the issues involved in developing wearable chemical sensors and strategies for sensor design and textile integration

Towards decentralized biogas generation: building community scale biogas reactors

This paper describes effort on the newly funded British Council project “Community Scale, decentralised Anaerobic Digestion for energy and resource recovery”. The aim of the project is to establish a network of small, community scale digesters both in Thailand and UK, for decentralised biogas generation from locally available wastes. We are especially focusing on food waste. The pilot digesters are paired with instruments for remote autonomous monitoring of biogas quality and conditions within the reactor (pressure, humidity). The data from networked reactors are collected on a single web portal, enabling remote monitoring. This reduces the need for trained personnel to be present at all times at each site. Reactor design is also described and the potential benefits and challenges are discussed

PhytoPower: Safely transforming mercury phytoremediation crops into bioenergy [Abstract]

PhytoPower: Safely transforming mercury phytoremediation crops into bioenergy [Abstract

Anaerobic digestion at Loughborough University

Bioenergy for Sustainable Rural Living (BURD) is a research partnership between 6 UK and 7 Indian Universities. The aim of this project is to develop best practise at a smaller community scale which makes use of hybrid and combinations of biofuels. The idea is to improve rural energy availability, equity of cost and to generate an economic stimulus from the desire to provide greater energy security and reduced environmental impact