Odor concerns continue to challenge the composting industry, with complaints from neighbouring communities being frequent while solutions are few. This study presents a novel solution to address odors from composting facilities using continuous, intelligent emissions monitoring of problematic compounds. The system uses one high-end instrument to measure concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H_2S) in air samples drawn from several remote sampling inlets. This data is combined with wind speed and direction data using a proprietary analysis methodology to identify H_2S plumes, track them back to their sources, and quantify their emission rates. While the presence of H_2S may not be representative of all odorous compounds that are emitted from composting facilities, the system can be applied to other compounds to allow for a more complete understanding of odor sources. Although this system has been successful in addressing odor and other emission-related concerns in the wastewater treatment and oil and gas industries, it has never been applied in the composting industry. The system was deployed at Cleanit Greenit Composting Systems Inc., where it was operational from October 2019 to March 2020. During this monitoring period, two focal points of H_2S emissions were identified on the site with average emission rates of 35.1 L/min and 30.6 L/min. The system also identified a plume of H_2S coming from the direction of several potential off-site emission sources, which may further explain the odors being experienced in the community that have been attributed primarily to the composting facility. Additional monitoring was performed from October 2020 to January 2021 and showed that interventions made at the facility had reduced on-site H_2S emissions by 80%. This case study illustrates the potential for emissions monitoring technologies to identify focal points of problematic emissions, demonstrate improvement in facility operations, and resolve uncertainty regarding who is responsible for community odor problems.
Speakers: Dennis Prince
Duration: 16 minutes
Credits: 0.5
Member Price: $30.00
Non-Member Price: $52.50
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FAC.222-Addressing Odors Using Intelligent Emissions Monitoring-AC22.USCC
