Development of electronic nose method for evaluation of HDPE data, correlated with organoleptic testing

A standard method for analyzing food grade high density polyethylene (HDPE) resins was developed using the electronic nose (E-nose) system. Eight different HDPE resin grades were analyzed using the E-nose. The E-nose system with Principal Component Analysis, was found to be capable of discriminating between the resin grades. The resin samples were soaked in ultra-pure water at 40 +/- 2°C for 1 week. Water samples stored in contact with the resins were organoleptically evaluated at different concentrations by untrained consumer sensory panels and the resins were ranked based on the degree of off-flavor perceived. The E-nose was used to correlate the sensory data and the sensor responses for the various resin grades, using multivariate statistical techniques.; A good correlation was obtained between the E-nose sensor responses and the human sensory analysis data, when the resins were analyzed using standardized experimental run conditions. The method is capable of predicting the quality of an unknown food grade HDPE resin sample, in terms of its possibility of producing an off-flavor in drinking water, which could be a result of migration of low molecular weight compounds from the polymer.