Exhaust air treatment and quality

Oxidation and disinfection with UV-C

We optimise processes such as ozonation and UVC disinfection to improve air quality. We work closely with the Physics department to do this. Our measurement methods enable us to determine the concentration of important air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), ozone (O₃), hydrogen sulphide (H₂S), ammonia (NH₃) and bacterial germs.

Physics Group: UVC (DE)

Odour control

In addition to harmful air pollutants, exhaust air often also contains odorous substances that are «only» a nuisance. According to the Ordinance on Air Pollution Control (LRV) and odour recommendations, however, harmful and annoying effects are equated. Annoying odours in the exhaust air must therefore be reduced, regardless of whether they are harmful or not. We therefore use our methods not only to reduce air pollutants, but also annoying odours, e.g. from agriculture.
Our expertise in the field of odour measurement and assessment optimally complements the development in the exhaust air sector.

Informations Odour Measurment   Factsheet Odours from Agriculture (DE)

Passive sampler

Air pollutants are often present in such low concentrations that their detection with analysers is very time-consuming or sometimes not possible at all. Passive samplers offer a valuable alternative here. They collect pollutants from the air over hours to days and then allow the collected pollutants to be analysed precisely in the laboratory. Thanks to their simple handling and low cost, passive samplers can be used to analyse the spread of pollutants in study areas over a wide area. Passive samplers are therefore an efficient instrument for monitoring air quality, identifying pollutant sources and, under certain circumstances, assessing odour emissions.

Electronic noses

Humans, or rather their sense of smell, are generally used to detect odour immissions. With 350 different receptor types and over 10 million olfactory cells, the human nose is superior to any technical instrument. However, there are often situations in which humans cannot be used as odour detectors. For example, the human sense of smell is specialised in detecting changes. If odours persist for a longer period of time, habituation occurs and human perception becomes inaccurate.

For such cases, we are working on the development of sensor systems that can identify odours. These sensor systems are called ‘electronic noses’. They record the changes in physical parameters in the air and these changes are then processed using complex mathematical models and assigned to odours. For the development of electronic noses, we therefore work closely with staff from the Physics and Mathematics departments.

Factsheet E-nose (DE)

VOC-free solvents

Although cleaning surfaces with volatile organic solvents (VOCs) is efficient, it also has considerable disadvantages. For example, VOCs are highly flammable, often toxic and pollute the environment by contributing to ozone formation and the greenhouse effect. In Switzerland, a VOC tax of CHF 3 per kg of VOC is therefore levied. We can advise you on switching from VOC-containing solvents to VOC-free alternatives and support you in the development of new VOC-free cleaning systems.

Factsheet Environmentally Friendly Solvents (DE)