Objective To date the project consortium has completed the determination of sensor requirements and parameters leading to the specification and testing protocol documents. Commercial solid state reference electrodes have been tested for suitability for this application, opto-chemical pH sensors have also been investigated and work has been completed on membranes for high operational stability. The development of the nitrate sensor has been completed and the results from testing are imminent. The development of electronics, signal processing and data logging techniques is on-going.The aim of the proposed project is to develop and validate a novel water quality monitoring instrument incorporating a pH sensor with a nitrate sensor. The new sensors will exhibit improved reliability and durability over existing instruments with the added advantage of incorporating two sensors into one modular instrument. This will allow for more flexible sensor use with reduced size and cost over conventional instrumentation.The project is based on the use of ISFET (Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor) as the sensor technology. This technology has already been proved as a quick, simple and effective method of pH sensing and has been the subject of research into nitrate sensors. However currently available sensors do not exhibit the necessary durability and reliability for long term field use in water quality monitoring. It is the aim of this project to improve the durability and reliability of these sensors through the development of novel solutions to the problems involved. The project also aims to further the state of the art by combining the two sensors into one modular instrument.The project will initiate collaboration between European companies and research institutions with the necessary expertise in sensor technologies and field trial validation. CNM of Spain will provide the core sensor expertise, Amagruss of Ireland will carry out sensor development work with Van Essen of the Netherlands carrying out instrumentation development and signal processing. Scientifics of the UK will carry out the essential testing and validation work whilst BioSystem of Germany will provide end user input and field trial sites. This project has been formulated in response to the needs of end users who have greater than ever demands for water and effluent monitoring in many industrial, agricultural and water supply applications. This is due to an increased awareness of the importance of water quality with respect to both the consumer and the environment. The sensors will be applicable across the water and waste water industries, together with agricultural effluent, groundwater and other discharge monitoring and more general industrial processing applications where there is an increasing need for improved efficiency of water quality monitoring to effect cost savings and improve quality. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processesnatural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologyengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsignal processingengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors Programme(s) FP4-BRITE/EURAM 3 - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of industrial and materials technologies, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 0102 - Development of clean production technologies Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator VAN ESSEN INSTRUMENTS B.V. Address Delftechpark 20 2628 XH Delft Netherlands See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all BioSystem GmbH Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address 7,lohnerhof strasse 78467 Kontstanz See on map Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Spain EU contribution € 0,00 Address Campus uab 8193 Barcelona See on map NETHERLANDS ORGANISATION FOR APPLIED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH - TNO Netherlands EU contribution € 0,00 Address 48,utrechtseweg 48 3700 AJ Zeist See on map Scientifics Ltd. United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address London road DE24 8UP Derby See on map
