Discrimination of diesel fuels with chemical sensors and mass spectrometry based electronic noses

The gas phase of about twenty diesel fuels obtained from three different refineries was examined with a FOX 4000 electronic nose (Alpha-M.O.S., France). The data of the eighteen semi-conductor gas sensors were evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The sensor responses showed significant differences between the samples corresponding to the fuels' origin. An LDA model allowed correct identification of the fuels' production site. The results were compared to measurements with a recently developed electronic nose, which is based on a mass spectrometer (Smart Nose GA 200, LDZ Laboratory, Switzerland). A good correlation was found between the data measured with both types of instrument. The mass spectroscopic data were easier to obtain and more reproducible.