Mobile Air Quality Monitoring: VOC Mobile Sampling

In recent years, the state has placed increasing emphasis on VOCs. Industrial estates of all sizes across the country are required to carry out systematic inspections covering all road sections and at all times of day, which places higher demands on mobile gas analysis.

For mobile monitoring in chemical industrial parks where pollution is a particular concern, how should a reasonable mobile monitoring strategy be formulated? How can guidance be provided on monitoring methods, routes, frequency and duration, with a view to achieving VOC remediation targets whilst minimising resource expenditure?

This gives rise to the following requirements:

Real-time VOC monitors, used to track key air pollution locations and times, are frequently operated from mobile measurement laboratories, providing data for local air quality networks and public safety.

Online mass spectrometers are the benchmark method for rapid, quantitative and ultra-sensitive monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Mass spectrometry technology can easily withstand the harsh vibration and shock conditions encountered on mobile platforms. Consequently, instruments are frequently operated on aircraft, measurement vehicles and vessels for environmental monitoring applications.

With the recent launch of the company’s compact, modular ProC-2-TOF, it is now possible to operate on smaller mobile platforms, such as passenger cars.

They can be installed side-by-side in the boot area or utilising the entire available cargo space. With a high-capacity battery, plug-in hybrid vehicles can support extended measurement periods without contaminating the local sample air. Tracking the impact of toxic organic gases and mapping smoke plumes

In landfill sites and areas prone to fires, toxic emissions seriously affect public health. Online mass spectrometers can act as real-time VOC analysers to map air pollution levels near fires and in neighbouring villages, thereby identifying the types of toxic organic gases primarily released from the fires, as well as the concentration levels faced by landfill fire response teams and the general public.

Multiple measurements from the ProC-TOF online mass spectrometer have shown high concentrations of benzene, styrene and other substituted aromatic and polyaromatic compounds. Other harmful air pollutants detected in landfill fire plumes include formaldehyde and organic cyanides.

A compact and lightweight version of the ProC-2-TOF real-time VOC monitoring mass spectrometer. The ProC-2-TOF system allows for direct integration into temporary mobile laboratories, such as standard passenger cars, for rapid deployment. It can also be integrated into existing 19-inch rack-mounted professional air quality monitoring vehicles.

Mobile air quality monitoring / VOC drive-by sampling

The ProC-TOF online mass spectrometer, utilising rapid time-of-flight mass spectrometry, provides high spatial resolution data on organic pollutant concentrations in target monitoring areas—particularly environmental hotspots—thanks to its full-spectrum response within seconds, portability and detection limits at the ppb level, when combined with mobile platforms (vehicle-mounted, airborne, ship-mounted, etc.).

Furthermore, with regard to the post-processing and utilisation of monitoring data, consideration must be given to how to conduct effective statistical analysis, establish databases and emission inventories, and provide effective data support for the refined control of VOCs and pollution forecasting.