Case Studies
Real industrial applications of spectroscopy intelligence — from field trials to live operational deployments.
Methanol Detection & Alcohol Composition Quantification
Detecting methanol adulteration in hand sanitizers and alcoholic products is a critical public health challenge. Lab-based FTIR systems are accurate but expensive, slow, and laboratory-bound. IDIR deployed the LA20 portable liquid analyser for on-site screening with immediate results.
Challenge
- Methanol contamination in consumer alcohol products poses serious health risk
- Lab-based methods are slow and cannot screen at-market or at-point-of-import
- High percentage of sub-standard products found in Malaysian market
Spectroscopy Approach
- NIR spectroscopy via IDIR LA20 portable liquid analyser
- 5-component quantification model: Methanol, Ethanol, Isopropanol, n-Propanol, Water
- Field-tested with real-world Malaysian market samples
- On-site testing with immediate results — no sample prep required
Validation
- Model correlated against reference laboratory FTIR measurements
- Tested across a wide range of product types and adulteration levels
- Cost-effective alternative to laboratory-grade FTIR systems
Outcome
- Immediate on-site alcohol composition results
- Significantly lower cost per test vs lab method
- Enables enforcement agencies and manufacturers to screen at scale
- Applicable to customs checks, market surveillance and production QC