Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organization (TIRDO) is a multi-disciplinary research and development organization established by an Act of Parliament in 1979. Its mandate is to assist the industrial sector of Tanzania by providing services including: technical expertise and support services to companies to upgrade their technology base; applied research for the development of sustainable technologies; adding value to local resources through industrial processing.

The Environmental Technologies and Occupational Safety division is one of the three divisions under the Department of Industrial Research at TIRDO. The division engages itself in matters pertaining to industrial research and development, management of the environment, as well as ensuring sound occupational health and safety of the industrial work floor for improved production and well-being of industrial staff.

TIRDO was requested to undertake an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for a geothermal site to ensure it meets the Tanzanian Government’s legal requirements. The site also needs to meet the African Development Bank (AfDB) Operational Safeguard System (OSS), the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards (IFC PS) and the World Bank Group Environmental Health and Safety Guidelines for geothermal sector.

ESIA’s focus was to monitor different parameters during the exploration drilling phase at the site. This included monitoring of H₂S, among others, at the drilling wells. To comply with IFC guidelines, measurements had to be taken for 24 hrs continuously. Therefore, TIRDO needed an instrument with data logging. To comply with World Health Organisation (WHO) ambient air quality guidelines, TIRDO needed an H₂S gas analyzer with a measurement range of 0 – 10 ppm, and a resolution of 0.01 ppm.

Time was also very crucial. TIRDO was looking for a company that could supply the instruments within a short period of time (less than two weeks) as the project was to start a week after the order was placed.

The Aeroqual Series 500 portable monitor with data logging and with an H₂S sensor head with 0-10 ppm measurement range met TIRDO requirements.

The Series 500 monitor with the H₂S sensor head was used for the collection of baseline H₂S data during an Environment Impact Assessment study and the data gathered was able to be used to show compliance with the required IFC and WHO guidelines.