Emissions with Undesirable Odors
Although complicated to regulate, emissions with undesirable odors (odiferous compounds) can negatively impact your operations if they are not mitigated.
What are Emissions with Undesirable Odors?
Odors are common in the industrial environment, especially in factories or wastewater treatment plants. According to the CDC, odors are classified as air pollutants and can come from compounds like ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, disulfides, and other volatile organic compounds. Odors may negatively impact the quality of life of those exposed to these air pollutants and provide issues for manufacturers.
Regulations on Industrial Odors
Though the federal government does not regulate odors, many state and local governments impose nuisance regulations on them. Affected individuals may file nuisance complaints if needed, and an investigation regarding the complaint will open.
Odor detection and measurement can be difficult because of variations in odor thresholds of pollutants and individual’s differing odor sensitivities. To remove the variability of odor measurements, investigators now use portable olfactometers, devices that can accurately quantify odor strength. Overall, odors are evaluated based on four characteristics: frequency, intensity, duration, and offensiveness (FIDO). Once assessed, manufacturers may be required to mitigate the odor immediately or face non-acceptance of the product, costly retrofits, and shutdowns.
Odor Mitigation Strategies
- Chemical Scrubbers – Can treat high-intensity odors and large air volumes
- MVS – high volume with particulate
- Catalytic Oxidizers – Compact equipment that can treat high-strength, low-volume air streams
- Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers – high volume low concentration
- Recuperative Thermal Oxidizers – VOC containing streams with some particulate
- Enclosed Flares – Can efficiently handle high VOC streams
Don’t Let Odors Ruin Your Brand
Facilities are often placed in industrials zones, but as the population continues to grow developers encroach on these areas. This leads to new odor complaints from the neighboring communities, and adds pressure to the facility to mitigate. Pollution Systems can help you be proactive in handling your odorous emissions.
Glossary
Nuisance odors are offensive smells that has an unreasonable interference to the surrounding community’s use or enjoyment of property. Even an abundance of a “good” smell can be considered a nuisance odor, such as an aroma coming from the manufacturing of fresh scented products or large-scale bakeries. Regulations of nuisance odors depend on the state your facility is located in.
Any compound that has an aroma or fragrance is considered an odoriferous compound,. Many industrial manufacturing process contain odoriferous compounds, such as VOCs.
Related Case Studies
High Efficiency Thermal Oxidizer Abates Odor For Feed Manufacturer
In order to reduce odors and operating costs, an animal feed manufacturer installed a Recuperative Thermal Oxidizer on their newly increased production line.
- Pollutant: Emissions with Undesirable Odors
- Industry: Food Processing & Manufacturing
- System: Thermal Oxidizers
Catalytic Oxidizer Offers Odor Control for Home Product Manufacturer
A scented home product manufacturer had to proactively solve nuisance odors from their process by using a Catalytic Oxidizer to abate the smells that were bothering the local community.
- Pollutant: Emissions with Undesirable Odors
- Industry: General Manufacturing
- System: Catalytic Oxidizers
