Volatile gas sensors for large-scale drying of wood

Inhalt:
Metal oxide gas sensors are developed to prevent fire in large-scale industrial dryers for wood chips. A set of two relevant volatiles is selected as markers for pre-combustive temperature stages of the wood chips, regardless of the origin of wood or its previous processing. Marker volatiles are identified by matching the olfactory profile of pyrophylic beetles to measurements of temperature dynamics of volatiles leaving the surface of heated wood. Semiconductor gas sensors with an active layer of nanostructured tungsten oxide prepared by a silica template casting are applied.