A Hybrid System Based on an Electronic Nose Coupled with an Electronic Tongue for the Characterization of Moroccan Waters

Abstract

A hybrid multisensor system combined with multivariate analysis was applied to the characterization of different kinds of Moroccan waters. The proposed hybrid system based on an electronic nose coupled with an electronic tongue consisted of metal oxide semiconductors and potentiometric sensors respectively. Five Taguchi Gas Sensors were implemented in the electronic nose for the discrimination between mineral, natural, sparkling, river and tap waters. Afterwards, the electronic tongue, based on series of Ion-Selective-Electrodes was applied to the analysis of the same waters. Multisensor responses obtained from the waters were processed by two chemometrics: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). PCA results using electronic nose data depict all of the potable water samples in a separate group from the samples that were originated from river. Furthermore, PCA and LDA analysis on electronic tongue data permitted clear and rapid recognizing of the different waters due to the concentration changes of the chemical parameters from source to another.

Keywords

• Electronic nose
• Electronic tongue
• Loading analysis
• Multivariate analysis
• Water characterization.