Before being used again, they must be examined for contaminants. Up to now, there have been no fast and appropriate instruments for an on-site assessment on the small scale.

The DBU project »high-tech methods for on-site assessment« combined existing analytical techniques with penetration technologies. The main focus was on the use of conventional, hand-held penetration devices in combination with innovative sensor techniques. Prerequisite was the miniaturization of the sensors and a modular concept for the combination of these technologies. Since the systems faced very rough conditions, it was necessary to make them robust.

The project partners developed a penetrometer with complex measuring devices including energy supply and data transfer modules integrated in the tip. Thus, contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOC), petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) can be determined. The experiments confirmed the reliability and robustness of the systems. Initial practical applications at real sites showed that the systems can contribute decisively to the safe delineation of hotspots and can be used as an accompanying measure in remediations.