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Handheld Chemical Sensor Sniffs Out Harmful Substances

May 7, 2001

With the VOCcheck handheld sensor system, users can perform on-site detection, analysis, and verification of volatile compounds. It provides quality assurance for a variety of markets, including the chemical, food, and environmental industries....

Roger Allan

Four quartz micro balance (QMB) sensors provide excellent reproducibility and long-term stability. Using reference standards, the VOCcheck can identify volatile substances and odors within 10 seconds. Users can check incoming goods, assist in waste utilization and recovery, help control product shelf life, detect leaks, aid in emission control, and discriminate and detect solvents in drums or tanks.

Easy to use and configure, the VOCcheck permits fast and accurate duplication of reproducible information which can be transferred from one device to another or directly to a PC. Also, it features a small form factor that weighs under a pound, durable design, and automatic shut-off. Its rechargeable battery provides 70 hours of standby time and up to 1000 measurement cycles.

Priced at $4995, the VOCcheck will ship with a rechargeable battery, storage capabilities for tracking volatile information, and sampling software.

AppliedSensor Inc., 400 Lanidex Plaza, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (973) 887-6900; www.appliedsensor.com.

About the Author

Roger Allan

Roger Allan is an electronics journalism veteran, and served as Electronic Design's Executive Editor for 15 of those years. He has covered just about every technology beat from semiconductors, components, packaging and power devices, to communications, test and measurement, automotive electronics, robotics, medical electronics, military electronics, robotics, and industrial electronics. His specialties include MEMS and nanoelectronics technologies. He is a contributor to the McGraw Hill Annual Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He is also a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and holds a BSEE from New York University's School of Engineering and Science. Roger has worked for major electronics magazines besides Electronic Design, including the IEEE Spectrum, Electronics, EDN, Electronic Products, and the British New Scientist. He also has working experience in the electronics industry as a design engineer in filters, power supplies and control systems.

After his retirement from Electronic Design Magazine, He has been extensively contributing articles for Penton’s Electronic Design, Power Electronics Technology, Energy Efficiency and Technology (EE&T) and Microwaves RF Magazine, covering all of the aforementioned electronics segments as well as energy efficiency, harvesting and related technologies. He has also contributed articles to other electronics technology magazines worldwide.

He is a “jack of all trades and a master in leading-edge technologies” like MEMS, nanolectronics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, military electronics, biometrics, implantable medical devices, and energy harvesting and related technologies.