Photonic sensor for liquid adulteration detection.

Project Title

Photonic sensor for liquid adulteration detection.

Project Area of Specialization Information & Communication TechnologyProject Summary

Adulteration in consumable (e.g., water, milk, juice) and non-consumable (e.g., petrol, diesel) liquids is so common these days that is leading to severe health issues like lung cancer, kidney disorders, heart failures, etc. Now the need is to make an efficient and inexpensive detection system that can eradicate this fraud which is being done by the local vendors to gain profits.

In this project, we will be developing a photonic sensor that will detect the adulteration in liquids using light. Our motive is to analyze and estimate different liquid samples through their absorption coefficients, RGB index, and refractive index. Firstly, we will design a basic spectrophotometer to notice the spectral response of different samples. Based on obtained results, we will make our final prototype.

Our basic photonic sensor will contain a light source, wavelength selector, sample holder, photodetector, and RGB detector for detection of light and Arduino Nano which will read data from the sensors and fed it to the computer for further processing. In the end, the system will be tested on multiple samples for validation. The idea is shown in the figure below.

We will make our final prototype based on the most reliable optical technique for analyzing samples. It can be an interferometric based prototype or Snell’s law-based prototype. Both concepts are discussed in the project implementation section.

Project Objectives

• To simulate and design a basic prototype of a photonic sensor for liquid adulteration detection.
• To develop a final prototype of a photonic sensor based on Interferometry/Snell’s law for liquid adulteration detection.
• To characterize and validate the proposed device by measuring various liquid samples and compare results with existing products.

Project Implementation Method

Concept: 1

This technique is an implementation of Beer’s Lambert law in which we are analyzing samples through their absorption rate. According to Beer’s law

Absorbance is directly related to the molar concentration of the solution. So, the idea is to check the concentration of different liquids using light.

Firstly, we will have different wavelength LEDs as a light source which will pass through the liquid sample, this light is received at another end by BPW34 photodetector, TCS34725 RGB sensors, and BH1750 lux meter. These sensors will generate a specific voltage based on the incident light which is fed to the Arduino for processing. We will analyze the wavelength VS intensity curves of different pure and adulterated samples for validation. We will also be analyzing the sample’s RGB index by varying the concentration of adulterants.

For making the system portable, we will design a proper lightproof system so that no external radiations can disturb the readings. 2x16 LED will be used to display the readings. Figure 1 depicts the idea in a better way.

Concept 2:

We will build an interferometer based photonic sensor, through which we can determine the refractive index of liquid samples. Refractive index plays a pivotal role in finding density and through density, we can analyze liquid samples in a much better way, for example, adulterated water will have a different density than pure water.

Setup will contain a LASER source, beam splitter which will split light into two equal components, mirrors for the reflections, Cuvettes, beam combiner, and detector.

Concept 3:

We will also implement Snell’s law for sample analysis. Again, the idea is to find the refractive index of liquid samples. We will make a circular array of OPT101 photodetectors, each photodetector is 20 degrees apart from the other so that we can know the angle of received light. When the light passes through the sample cuvette, its angle gets changed.

At the receiver, we have an array of 9 photodetectors, out of them the one with greater voltage value will give us the information of the received ray’s angle. These photodetectors will send data wirelessly to the Arduino via Zigbee modules. Figure 4 shows the idea.

Benefits of the Project

Major benefits of this project are: We will contribute to two of the major SDGs i.e, “Good health and well-being” and “Clean water and sanitation”. We will ensure the purity of consumable liquids like milk, juices, water, etc. We will check the quality of fuel which is being used in automobiles It can be used in chemical laboratories.

Major benefits of this project are:

1. We will contribute to two of the major SDGs i.e, “Good health and well-being” and “Clean water and sanitation”.
2. We will ensure the purity of consumable liquids like milk, juices, water, etc.
3. We will check the quality of fuel which is being used in automobiles
4. It can be used in chemical laboratories.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The photonic sensor will be delivered along with its complete technical report.

We will deliver:

1. Hardware 

Proposed product includes the following:

1. 1. Light source
   2. Sample Cuvettes
   3. A photodetector (BPW34)
   4. Sensors (TCS34725, BH1750)
   5. Arduino Nano

1. Software to use the proposed product:
   1. Arduino IDE Code
2. Documentation
   1. Technical report with complete specifications and results of proposed product.

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry HealthOther Industries Medical , Petroleum , Food Core Technology OthersOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Clean Water and Sanitation, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources

Elapsed time in (days or weeks or month or quarter) since start of the project	Milestone	Deliverable
2 Months	Literature review on different optical techniques for liquid adulteration detection.	Documentation
Month 2	Simulation of photonic sensor	Simulation
Month 3	Development of photonic sensor	Hardware
Month 4	Characterization of proposed photonic sensor	Analysis Report on Results
Month 5	Validation of proposed sensor with existing optical technology	Comparison report