In this study, hybrid devices were developed to simultaneously remove odor and particulate matter (PM) emitted during meat grilling, and their performance was evaluated. A ceramic filter system and surfactant microbubble plasma system were used to reduce particulate matter. For odor reduction, an electro-oxidation system, an ozone-active catalytic oxidation system, and a multi-adsorption filter system were used. By combining the above particulate matter reduction and odor reduction devices, the reduction efficiency of odor and particulate matter generated during meat grilling was analyzed. As a result, most of the six combined device conditions showed a reduction efficiency of more than 90% for particulate matter. The combined odor also showed a high reduction efficiency of less than 200 times the emission concentration standard. This study also evaluated 22 types of odorous substances, of which ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) showed removal efficiencies of more than 99%. Therefore, it is expected that the combination of these technologies can be used and applied directly to the sites where meat grilling restaurants are located to effectively contribute to the simultaneous reduction of particulate matter and odor.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of odor reduction when spraying inside the Bio-curtain (hereinafter referred to as curtain) according to the exhaust fan operating rate. Spraying is a main factor affecting the ability to odor reduction of curtains. The curtain (total area: 37.9m3) was constructed with two layers of light-shielding screens stretched over a rectangular parallelepiped structure installed around an exhaust fan (630 mm) on the side wall of a pig barn. Air samples for odor analysis were collected from inside the pig barn and outside the curtain. The main odorous compounds such as volatile fatty acids, phenols, indoles, and ammonia were measured. The odor reduction effectiveness was evaluated by total odor activity values (TOAVs) summed to the odor activity values of each odorous compounds. Depending on the exhaust fan operating rate, the reduced rate of TOAVs gradually decreased to the range between 15.67% and 68.80%. Because the contact time between the spraying liquid and the air velocity of the exhaust fan becomes shorter (or there is a reduction in liquid to gas flow ratio) as the exhaust fan operating rate increases. The results of this study can be used as basic data for research into spraying conditions to improve the odor reduction effectiveness of curtains.

The air dilution olfactory method to measure complex odors needs to store and carry odor samples from the field sampling until the analysis in laboratories. Until the analysis of sample in the laboratory, odor dilution factor (odor sensitivity) in the sample bag may decrease over time depending on the characteristics of each odor substances. This is one of the limitation for the air dilution olfactory method. Thus, the air dilution device enable to measure without loss in complex odors of samples. Recently, many studies on the performance test of on-site air dilution devices, i.e., field olfactometer, has been conducted to figure out the feasibility of the field olfactometers. In this study, seven odor samples were collected from five odor emission source sites. And comparative analysis with the air dilution olfactory method was carried out to assess the field applicability of the olfactometer. As results, the performance of the field olfactometer used in this study is regared as the affordable method. The dilution factors from between two methods showed the similar values, indicating low values of standard deviations. In order to ensure the accuracy and precision of measurement data using the field olfactometer, methodology minimized variables (that may affect measurement) needs to establish.

This study was conducted to separate microorganisms with excellent odor component decomposition ability from nature. Microorganisms growing sulfur and ammonia compounds as substrates were isolated and identified in the tidal flat of Suncheon Bay. The strain YUN4 cultured on ammonia and sulfur compound substrates was found to have 100% genetic homology to Streptomyces fulvissimus. The optimum growth temperature of YUN4 was 20oC to 40oC, and the optimum pH was investigated in the range of pH 5 to pH 9. In addition, in order to evaluate the ability to reduce odor, after mixing the culture strain with each concentration of 1%, 5%, and 10% in the malodor generating sample, the efficiency of malodor reduction was evaluated after 30 minutes. As a result, the ammonia decomposition efficiency was 82.4%~93.9%, and hydrogen sulfide was 88.7%~94.9%.

Most of the odorous substances generated in public environment facilities are treated using a local exhaust ventilation system. This study assessed the leakage of odorous substances by measuring design criteria, collected air volume, and complex odor in the unit process of sewage treatment facilities. The closer the guideline/design operation airflow ratio of each odor source is to 1.0, the more identical the guideline:design:operation airflow. The average air volume ratio of the facilities under the study was 0.95~0.99 for the MBR process and 0.29~0.68 for the BNR process. As a result of comparing the types of wastewater treatment processes, the leakage of odorous substances was about 9.7 times higher in the BNR process (192,732 m3/min) than in the MBR process (19,838 m3/ min). In this study, it was found that the following two means are important for the proper collection and prevention of odorous substances. The first is the estimation of collection air volume with consideration to the characteristics of the odor source (temperature, odor generation condition, etc.). The second is the design and operation of the local exhaust ventilation system.

In this study, the grid field olfactory odor method was supplemented to the domestic situation in the surrounding areas of a domestic science industrial complex. The actual condition of the occurrence of odor frequency in the field was then investigated over the first period of late spring to summer and the second period of autumn in 2017. The frequency of odor occurrence in the area around the science industrial complex was increased as odor discharge facilities in the nearby area were concentrated. The odor occurrence frequency of the total period was 0.09~0.28, that of the first period was 0.08~0.32, and that of the second period was 0.05~0.25. The odor occurrence frequency in summer was higher than in autumn. The frequency by which the measurement of odor occurrence by smell type was most dominant was mainly smell of chemicals, plastics, and livestock houses during the first period, and the smell of chemicals, burning gases, and plastics during the second period. And the frequency of each smell type was judged to be different according to season. The odor occurrence frequency was measured as higher than 0.15, which is the standard of Germany's odor frequency in an industrial area, and it was judged that measures for odor management in the region were necessary. Since most of the odor discharge facilities are non-continuous systems and the odor generation frequency is more important than the concentration of the minimum detection concentration, it was judged that the German grid method can reflect the odor occurrence characteristics of the odor complaints or receptors for a certain period of time compared to the domestic measurement method. In the future, it was judged that the field olfactory odor method would be able to replace the evaluation method of odor assessment in Korea with the survey method of odor assessment under actual conditions in areas where it is difficult to access the odor discharge source or the receptor where odor complaints occur.

This study was performed to evaluate the odor occurrence of offensive leather odor in a district in Gyeonggi-do, where Jeil industrial complex is located, and its residential district, by using olfactory field frequency measurement (Gird Method). In addition, we measured the composite odor. The target points were 9 spots in Jeil industrial complex and 12 spots in the residential district, and we conducted the measurements 13 times each spot. As a result, odor occurrence in descending order was investigated as follows, leather industry > drug industry > food industry. Moreover, odor exposure of the industrial complex exceeded the industrial zone standard of 0.15 (=German odor standard) in all 9 spots (average 0.78). In addition, odor exposure of the residential district exceeded the residential zone standard of 0.10 (=German odor standard) in 12 spots (average 0.78). All the composite odors were below 20 (industrial zone standard). However, as the odor intensity of the sampling site and the lab analysis data showed a large deviation, we found that much supplementation is needed of the odor analysis techniques in the equipment measurement methods.

We used three gas sensors to monitor hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which were frequently emitted from environmental facilities, such as municipal wastewater treatment, livestock manure treatment, and food waste composting facilities. Two electrochemical (EC) sensors for detecting hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, and a photoionization detector (PID) sensor for detecting VOCs were characterized in this study. The performance of their linearity by concentration levels, lower detection limit (LDL), repeatability, reproducibility, precision, and response time were tested under the laboratory condition. The linearity according to concentration levels were favorable for all three sensors with high correlation coefficients (R2 > 0.98). The ammonia sensor showed the highest LDL (18.6 ppb) and the hydrogen sulfide and VOC sensors showed 22.3 ppb and 26.7 ppb of LDL, respectively. The reproducibility and precision were favorable for all three sensors, indicating a lower relative standard deviation (RSD) than 0.9% in the reproducibility test and 7.2% in the precision test. The response times to reach target concentration were varied from 1 to 12 minutes. The ammonia sensor needed 12 minutes of response time at 1 ppm target the NH3 concentration and the hydrogen sulfide and VOC sensors needed less than 2 minutes of response time.

Recently, public complaints about unpleasant odor are increasing, particularly in urban areas. One of the odor sources is meat grilling restaurants in the vicinity of the residential areas. In this study, we characterized the odorous compounds generated from the stack of grilling restaurants, and evaluated the removal efficiency of the control facilities. As a result of the field investigation, the dilution index of the complex odor exceeded 500 times that of all test restaurants. The main substance was acetaldehyde. In addition, the correlation coefficient (R2) between the total odor and the sum of odor activity values (SOAV) was 0.73, a value high enough to indicate significant responsibility. The performance of the control facility has been shown to be strongly influenced by maintenance activities, such as cleaning and filter replacements.

The stench of various sources has become a complex issue that all governments must face and solve. n-Butanol is often used as an odor intensity reference for daily air quality monitoring and evaluation. However, its odor space, including odor sensation and odor effect, is still not fully understood, especially in wide concentration ranges. This study described n-butanol odor character profiles with objective descriptors. They are mostly presented as “odorless” or “offensive” at low concentrations, and frequently characterized as “chemical” or “medicinal” at high concentrations. The semantic differential shows that n-butanol odor is a negative emotional odor rather than a positive one. The principal component analysis shows that the representative factors of the n-butanol sensibility structure according to the sensibility evaluation are expressed with diverse sensibility vocabulary, and ‘esthetics’ represent its characterless nature. The good linearity between intensity and concentration, the near absence of gender difference, diverse odor types rather than a specific type, and ease with which to make a wide range of concentrations, makes n-butanol a candidate to be considered as a suitable standard odorant.

The odor substances generated in a feed manufactory operating for the commercialization of animal-vegetable materials were analyzed and the odor reduction efficiency by a chemical scrubber was evaluated. The major causative substances in the feed manufactory comprised about 45.4% of ketone compounds and about 13.3% of aldehyde compounds. On the other hand, the removal efficiencies of diacetyl and acetoin as ketone compounds were 77.3% and 78.1%, respectively, by a chemical scrubber. Additionally, the removal efficiencies of acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, valeraldehyde, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, and nonanal were 86.0%, 78.9%, 67.4%, 52.8%, and 71.9%, respectively. These rates were higher than the odor generation substance contribution rate as a result of treating the exhaust gas generated from the feed manufactory by the chemical scrubber using 5% of C3. It was also found that xylene, methylcyclopentane, benzene, ethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and decane were almost not removed.

In this study, we conducted a survey on odor characteristics of single odor and collective odor facilities using the German olfactory odor method and carried out the odor frequency modeling. The influence of the odor from a sewage treatment plant, which is a single discharge facility, was strong in the eastern and northern parts of the plant and appeared to be in good agreement with the areas where the odor complaints were frequent. The German olfactory method reflects the odor complaints and odor occurrence characteristics of the receptors as compared with the domestic odor measurement method. The influence of the odor from the odor control area, which is a collecting and discharging facility, showed a tendency in which the sum of the odor occurrence frequency increased with the proximity of the odor discharge facility to the dense industrial complex. Furthermore, it was judged that it is not easy to extract the odor frequency results for individual facilities because the survey subject is the group discharge facility area. Therefore, it will be necessary to introduce a method to manage odor in the future. In this study, the measurement of odor frequency using the German olfactory odor method is partially applied to some odor sources. Appropriately, it is not applicable to various emission sources. However, the odor measurement method based on odor occurrence frequency and odor sensory can be used for investigation of the actual condition, permits of odor discharge facilities and the environmental review.

In this study, the odor generated in a livestock farm with 500 heads of finisher breed in 661 m² was monitored during 6 months using a gas sensor, a wired / wireless communication system and database server. Odor unit, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) were monitored using the gas sensor. To show the tendency of odorous substances generation, the odor concentration was shown in the graph on a monthly and daily basis. Among the analysis items, the maximum generation of odor was found to be closely related to the generation of hydrogen sulfide. Through observing the daily and monthly trends of odor substances, it was found that each substance was a useful indicator for monitoring odor, because ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, odor and TVOC were increased and decreased in a similar pattern. The odors were highest in the hours of the early morning (00:00-05:00), the evening (18:00-23:00), and the morning (06:00-11:00) in a day. After the use of the microbial agent was discontinued in autumn (October), anaerobic digestion of the manure in a pit proceeded and the amount of hydrogen sulfide increased. Therefore, despite a slight decrease in ammonia production, the odor unit level did not decrease after October but rather was somewhat increased. In the future, the use of the odor monitoring system is expected to improve the efficiency of odor sources management.

The labeled magnitude scale (LMS) was proposed as the magnitude estimation of perceived odor intensity while the direct olfactory method is a basis of odor evaluation. Six chemicals (pyridine, ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, trimethylamine, and β-phenylethyl alcohol) were tested to demonstrate the limitation of the current odor intensity scale and the possibility of the alternative method. The 6-point odor intensity reference scale, which is wildly used in the field, has the inevitable limitation of the perceived magnitude of odor intensity. It has failed to express the magnitude objectively when odor intensity increased and the magnitude scale was limited. It was experimentally proven that LMS presents the function of the existing method and effectively evaluates the wide range of odor intensity.

The purpose of this study is to produce an adsorbent material with biomass by-product that are readily visible in daily life. The biomass by-product used in the study are coffee grounds, oak leaves and chestnut peels. These biomass by-products were produced with dry, carbonization and activation treatments. The equipment for the evaluation of adsorption capacity was the batch type system to measure the concentration of test gases with the odor sensor device. Biomass by-products have been shown to improve the absorption characteristics of adsorbent through carbonization and activation. The adsorbent made with coffee grounds and chestnut peels had superior adsorption capacity to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and complex odor (H2S & NH3) in a comparison with regular activated carbon. The odor sensor device could be used to evaluate the device of adsorption capacity of the adsorbent.

In order to reduce odor and methane emission from the landfill, open biocovers and a closed biofilter were applied to the landfill site. Three biocovers and the biofilter are suitable for relatively small-sized landfills with facilities that cannot resource methane into recovery due to small volumes of methane emission. Biocover-1 consists only of the soil of the landfill site while biocover-2 is mixed with the earthworm casts and artificial soil (perlite). The biofilter formed a bio-layer by adding mixed food waste compost as packing material of biocover-2. The removal efficiency decreased over time on biocover-1. However, biocover-2 and the biofilter showed stable odor removal efficiency. The rates of methane removal efficiency were in order of biofilter (94.9%)>, biocover-1(42.3%)>, and biocover-2 (37.0%). The methane removal efficiency over time in biocover-1 was gradually decreased. However, drastic efficiency decline was observed in biocover-2 due to the hardening process. As a result of overturning the surface soil where the hardening process was observed, methane removal efficiency increased again. The biofilter showed stable methane removal efficiency without degradation. The estimate methane oxidation rate in biocover- 1 was an average of 10.4%. Biocover-2 showed an efficiency of 46.3% after 25 days of forming biocover. However, due to hardening process efficiency dropped to 4.6%. After overturn of the surface soil, the rate subsequently increased to 17.9%, with an evaluated average of 12.5%.

The study analyzed performance assessment factors of VOCs odor sensors from 3 different manufacturers, such as minimum detection limit, humidity stability and temperature stability. Through the minimum detection limit assessment, it was found that a VOCs sensor was able to detect TVOCs at the concentration of 5 ppb. The standard deviation ratio was over 10%, and it increased as humidity rose. The range of temperatures in which the VOCs odor sensor using photoionization could operate was between 25oC and 40oC, and the sensor output values were unstable at low temperatures. In terms of the temperature stability of the metal oxide semiconductor sensor for measuring complex odors, the sensor output values dropped considerably to 0~10oC, and were similar to the concentrations of odorous gases generated at 25oC. The results of the test of VOCs odor sensor outputs after temperature and humidity pre-treatment revealed that the respective stable output values at 50% humidity and 25oC were similar to the concentrations of manufactured odors. In terms of temperature and humidity stability of the VOCs odor sensors, all target VOCs substances had stable output values at 25oC to 40oC and at 50% to 65% relative humidities, and unstable values at low temperatures and high humidities. Therefore, the implementation of pre-treatment systems including temperature and humidity correction (25~40oC, 50~65% RH) is required for the stable use of VOCs odor sensors.

The study analyzed performance assessment factors of odor sensors from 4 different manufacturers, including minimum detection limit, humidity stability and temperature stability. In the minimum detection limit assessment, only one electrochemical gas sensor was able to detect ammonia and hydrogen sulfide at the concentration of 5 ppb. The standard deviation ratio was over 10%, and it increased as humidity rose. The range of temperatures in which the electrochemical and photoionization gas sensors could function well was between 25oC and 40oC, and the sensor output values were unstable at low temperatures. Regarding the temperature stability of the metal oxide semiconductor sensor for measuring complex odors, the sensor output values dropped considerably to 0~10oC, and were similar to the concentrations of odor gases generated at 25oC. The results of the test of odor sensor outputs after temperature and humidity pre-treatment revealed that the respective stable output values at 50% humidity and 25oC were similar to the concentrations of manufactured odors. In terms of temperature and humidity stability of the NH3, H2S and Complex odor sensors, all target substances had stable output values at 25~40oC and 50~65% relative humidity, and unstable values at low temperatures and high humidity. Therefore, implementing pretreatment systems including temperature and humidity correction (25~40oC, 50~65% RH) is necessary for the stable use of odor sensors.

The principal hygienic problem caused by livestock industry is the odor exposed to farm workers. This study was performed to assess air cleaner efficiency for reducing odor through on-site evaluation. The concentration of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which are major odorous compounds generated from livestock building, were monitored by realtime direct recorder. The odor mixture was measured by air dilution method applying human noses of five panels. Their reduction efficiencies were represented by difference between initial concentration exhausted by non-treatment and concentration measured after treatment of respective control mechanism (water, germicide and plasma ion) of air cleaner. Mean levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were 1.84 (SD:0.22) ppm and 76.83 (SD:1.37) ppb for non-treatment, 1.23 (SD:0.09) ppm and 59.07 (SD:2.68) ppb for wet scrubber (water), 1.08 (SD:0.03) ppm and 58.55 (SD:1.62) ppb for wet scrubber (germicide), and 0.96 (SD:0.03) ppm and 53.66 (SD:1.37) ppb for plasma ion, respectively. Mean dilution factors of odor mixture were 100 for non-treatment, 66.9 for wet scrubber (water), 144.2 for wet scrubber (germicide), and 66.94 for plasma ion, respectively. Based on the results obtained from on-site evaluation, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide showed the mean reduction efficiency of 40% and 25.7% compared with non-treatment process of air cleaner, respectively. In the case of odor mixture, the highest dilution factor was observed at wet scrubber (germicide) compared with other control mechanism of air cleaner.