Odour control - an overview on which odor reduction system you should be looking for from your supplier.

Click on that part of the image, which shows the airflow versus the concentration of odorous compounds, which is of interest for you:

Or click here on the following links:

• Ecosorb odour treatment

• Odour removal with biofilter

• Combined part (red and blue) of the picture

• Ozone odour treatment

Odour control has long been a forgotten issue within the environmental concerns.

Industrial production facilities have focused on reducing the quantity and improving the quality of their solid waste. Have cleaned up and remediated the factory's sites, have purified and recycled their waste water and commonly even reduced emissions to the ambient air. In many cases businesses have therefore complied with governmental and local laws and permits. For odour issues however the regulations are less clear. The only important factor has been the number of complaints the company receives from the locality.

Odor control

With new residential areas built near to older industrial sites which used to be located on the outskirts of cities, citizens are increasingly being confronted with the malodors of manufacturing companies. Furthermore, whereas in the past the workers of the company were the only ones living in the neighborhood of the factory, nowadays with increasing mobility, the company's neighbor may not be his best friend. Moreover people have learned to stand up, confront and even sue local government and business if they believe health and comfort issues are at stake. It is therefore that odour control is becoming an important factor for every environmental officer and production manager.

What is considered odor nuisance?

Odor is a very complex matter to quantify and qualify. It varies from person to person what is considered smelly. A malodorous substance called mercaptanes can be very pungent at extremely low concentrations of for example 5 ppb (parts per billion). Other bad odours such as H2S loose their smell at very high concentrations. For an overview on odor thresholds and concentrations click here.

Can odor be measured?

Odor is one of the most difficult things to measure. As most samples of odorous air contain a cocktail of smelly substances with each different odour thresholds it is nearly impossible to have an on-line analyzer or measuring system which can quantify and differentiate between these components. The standard method for measuring odors is the olfactory method. In a nutshell, samples of air are taken from the odorous source and are "measured" by a panel of people.