Data released by the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior reveal that more than 500 cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning occur in Taiwan annually. Most of these cases are caused by the installation of water heaters in indoor spaces, enclosed balcony extensions, and places with poor air circulation, resulting in incomplete combustion in gas water heaters, thereby leading to the generation of CO. To effectively reduce the number of CO poisoning cases, the government of Taiwan actively educates the public on how to appropriately install gas water heaters and encourages the public to install CO alarms. Nevertheless, CO alarms, which are usually battery operated, can typically be used for several years without the batteries needing to be replaced. Therefore, people may infrequently inspect the batteries, and when the batteries expire, irreparable harm could be caused in the event of CO poisoning

To overcome this problem, the National Chip Implementation Center (CIC) of National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs) developed a CO sensor, called the cloud electronic nose (e-nose), that can harvest energy from the environment or its measuring target, and then the harvested energy will be sufficient for the operation of sensing systems. For example, to detect CO and gas leaks at home, the cloud e-nose should be installed at the cold water inlet of a gas water heater. When the gas water heater is activated, the running cold water passes through the microhydropower turbine. During this process, energy harvesting technology converts the water power into electricity. This unique energy harvesting technology developed by CIC can ensure stable electricity output regardless of the stability of the water pressure and flow, thus enabling CO or gas sensors to operate effectively.

When CO or gas leaks are detected, the cloud e-nose will alert the users, which is a typical function of gas sensors in the market. Moreover, the cloud e-nose enables gas water heaters to be connected to the Internet and to transmit relevant data (i.e., CO concentration, concentration of leaked gas, and water consumption) to a cloud server and subsequently to other devices. Therefore, when CO or gas leaks reach dangerous levels, the cloud e-nose will send an alarm to a control system in the cloud server; the warnings can also be transmitted to family members' mobile phones or to security company servers, thus enabling family members or security companies to execute emergency rescue operations. In addition, the warnings can be sent to the police department, fire department, and hospitals for further managing the emergent event; moreover, the water heater manufacturer can be informed and the necessary maintenance services requested.

Currently, the research team of cloud e-nose won the gold medal at the 2015 IENA Germany Nuremberg International Invention Exhibition. A Taiwan patent has been obtained for the cloud e-nose, and patent applications in China and the United States are under review. Companies are discussing the transfer of rights for adopting the cloud e-nose technology, which has unlimited potential and business opportunities.

Enabling gas water heaters to be connected to the Internet is only one example of applying this cloud e-nose to home security. On the basis of the energy harvesting and cloud-based technologies, the cloud e-nose can be further applied to monitor the underground gas pipelines and other industry pipelines to prevent massive incidents such as the 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions. Moreover, in addition to harvesting energy from hydropower, the e-nose can be used for harvesting wind, solar, and vibration energy. In the future, CIC will continually collaborate with experts from the industry and academia to develop smart devices and enhance the value of Taiwan’s industry.