Olfasense cutting-edge GC laboratory fully operational

Not even a year has passed since Olfasense announced the set-up of a new laboratory for molecular odour evaluation in Kiel, containing the latest in cutting-edge technologies for GC-MS and GC-sniffing services.

Today we are happy to report that our laboratory is fully operational and offering performance matched by few other providers in the world, allowing Olfasense to meet the growing demands from clients around the world for molecular odour testing, both to solve environmental odour problems and to evaluate commercial products and materials.

During the 10-months start-up phase of the laboratory, the management team was driven by the main objective to ensure excellence in both measurement and results interpretation. This was realized by implementing quality assurance as well as maintenance routines, and the thorough training of our GC-sniffing assessors to meet the stringent requirements of this sophisticated methodology.

Successfully completed projects have confirmed that we meet our own high standards in providing great value services. Additionally, the Olfasense lab demonstrated great performance in the 2018 BAM proficiency test on VOCs. With an average z-score over all compounds (toluene equivalent) of 0.87, the result was highly successful.

From fragrances to malodours, the molecular perspective on odour testing makes a big difference to product development, quality assurance and claim support, as well as general air quality and odour impact studies.

Get in touch with our expert team today, to identify the most appropriate techniques for your odour project:

Dr. Nathalie Nibbe         Dr. Luciano Vera
nnibbe@olfasense.com lvera@olfasense.com

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Frequently asked questions – molecular odour evaluation

What kind of odour studies do you perform in your molecular odour lab?

As most labs, we can detect substances, quantify them, and chemically characterize them.

As one of the very few laboratories in the world, however, Olfasense is able to provide sensory interpretation based on the detected odorants – making sense of the chemical/sensory data.

Further services offered in the field of molecular odour evaluation are:

• Characterisation of the chemical composition of samples
• Identification of the compound(s) responsible for an odour contamination in a sample
• Determination of the concentration of specific contaminants
• Evaluation on how efficient implemented modifications have been
• Development of customised test designs to find the most suitable method, also for complex samples

We’ll help you keep costs down by providing flexible service offerings that are tailored to your requirements.

Which compounds can you detect?

Our analysis capabilities allow the detection of a wide range of odorous VOCs at detection levels up to sub-ppt. These include hydrocarbons (aromatic, aliphatic, cyclic), alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, ethers, furans, terpenes, organic acids, organic sulfur compounds (sulfides, mercaptans), organic nitrogen compounds (amines, nitriles, pyridine, etc.), chlorine compounds, amongst others.

Highly volatile compounds, such as methane or H2S cannot be detected due to the retention capacity of the adsorbent tubes (>C2/C3).

How can I deliver samples to your lab?

Our lab can evaluate the properties of solid materials, liquids and gases.

You can deliver your samples from anywhere in the world, either on thermodesorption tubes (provided by Olfasense), as a gas sample in a bag, or as solid or liquid samples – and our experts will prepare the samples for you.

We will determine the right sampling method based on your requirements and questions.