Determination of terpenes using NIRS

Background and Objective

Expected changes in the field of technical building regulations and the constant efforts to improve the indoor air are aimed at assessing the quality of the products also for VOC. So far, tests have been carried out in accordance with DIN EN 16516, but since this is a relatively lengthy process, we are evaluating an alternative measurement method for testing terpenes using near-infrared spectroscopy. According to the current standard method for determining VOCs, it takes 28 days for a measurement result to be available. It is not economically feasible to store the manufactured products for such a long period of time. The aim is to develop a procedure that enables time-saving and thus more cost-effective quality control in industrial production.

On the one hand, end products should be able to be assessed quickly, on the other hand raw materials (e.g. sawn timber, panels) and intermediate products (e.g. dried or glued chips or strands) should be checked in order to be able to draw conclusions about the end product.

Target Group

Approach

For this purpose, a near-production method based on NIR is to be developed in the research project and its measured values are then to be compared with the standardized chamber method. If the correlation is sufficiently strong, the next step is to implement it in industrial production.

Our Research Questions

Can terpene emissions be predicted using NIR spectroscopy?