Olfactometry is a psychophysical method based upon
the olfactory responses of individuals sniffing diluted odours
presented by an olfactometer to determine odour strength or odour
concentration. In the later 80's, developments in the methodology
of olfactometry, particularly in dilution instrument calibration
and panellist management, have dramatically improved the repeatability
and reproducibility of olfactometry measurements. As a result,
the reproducibility between odour testing laboratories has been
dropped from a factor of 40 down to 3 in European countries.
The introduction of the automatic calibration in
DynaScent olfactometer has made it possible to determine odour
intensity relationship and assess the ambient odour level.
From more than ten years experience in operating
and annual calibration of the Olfaktomat (PRA, the Netherlands
1990), it gradually became clear that the biggest source of error
in odour measurement is the accuracy of the dilution ratio. The
dilution ratio can sometime drift down by a factor of 2- 4 over
a period of 3 months due to contamination and clogging from the
odour samples.
Odour samples are tested for odour concentrations
using the most advanced dynamic olfactometer in accordance with
Australian Standards (ASNZS4323.3). The next generation dynamic
olfactometer - DynaScent performs above the instrumental requirements
as specified in the Australian and New Zealand standard (ASNZS4323:3).
Our Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC)
follows the procedures that were developed for NATA accreditation
at the University of NSW during 1998 - 1999.
Our distinct features make us different from the
others:
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Lowest dilution ratio of 2
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Small volume of odour samples required (about 2 liters).
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Exceptional accuracy and repeatability in dilution ratio
and calibrated every two months on mass flowrate.
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Extensive self-cleaning mechanism to flush the olfactometer
between series and samples.
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6 person panels with on-going performance monitoring.
We guarantee
that our testing facility fully complies with Australian standards.
We can provide our instrument
calibration results and panel performance records at request.
We offer the following services:
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Odour concentration measurement
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Odour intensity analysis providing specific odour impact
criteria. We use random series presentation and BET (Best
Estimated Threshold) based odour intensity calculation method
- our in-house calcualtion method
-
Ambient odour monitoring for the investigation of odour
complaints
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Monitoring and performance evaluation of odour control
systems and commercial products.
Dynamic
Olfactometry