This study investigated the odor emission characteristics of fertilizer manufacturing facilities. The characteristics were evaluated by measuring the odor concentration at the outlet and site boundary of the complex fertilizer and organic fertilizer manufacturing facilities. The evaluation process utilized the air dilution sensory method and PTR-ToF-MS. The complex odor dilution factor ranged from 100 to 120 times at the outlet of the compound fertilizer manufacturing facility. Specifically, the concentrations of Ammonia and Aldehydes were relatively high as designated odor substances. For the organic fertilizer facility, the dilution factor for complex odors was measured up to a maximum of 3,000. And, designated odorants such as Ammonia and Hydrogen sulfide were measured at levels up to parts per million (ppm). The odor contribution assessment of the fertilizer manufacturing facilities showed that the complex fertilizer facility exhibited similar contributions from Aldehydes and Sulfur compounds. On the other hand, the organic fertilizer facility had the highest contribution of over 62% from Sulfur compounds. As odor substances are easily changed and diffused according to weather conditions, it is difficult to obtain representative data according to the measurement time. Therefore, if continuous monitoring of odorous substances is performed using equipment that can be measured in real time without pretreatment, it becomes feasible to identify odor emission sources and regional spatio-temporal distribution. This information would then serve as a basis for analyzing odorant contamination characteristics and establishing appropriate countermeasures.

The annual number of odor complaints increased about 10 times over 14 years from 4,302 in 2005 to 40,854 in 2019, in Korea. Especially, livestock facilities account for more than 50% of the odor complaints and the swine farms account for the most odor complaints among livestock. It is therefore necessary to manage swine farms as the major odor emission source. In this study, a real-time odor monitoring system equipped with PTR-TOF-MS (proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometric) was used to measure the odorous substances in two swine farms. Odorous substances emitted from outlets were sampled and measured at the two types of swine farms. In addition, the boundary spots were designated as measurement points. As a result, the rankings of the odorous substances in order, from highest to lowest, were ammonia, acetaldehyde, methyl mercaptan, fatty acids, etc. and the level of odor intensity was 0.8-4.4 at the outlet of the swine farms. The concentration at the boundary decreased between 1/100 ~ 1/10000 compared to the concentration emitted from outlets. Base on the results of evaluating odor activity values, Skatole and p-Cresol were estimated as major odor substances in swine farms.

The concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odor-inducing substances were measured using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometers (SIFT-MS) and a drone equipped with an air quality monitoring system. SIFT-MS can continuously measure the concentration of VOCs and odor-inducing substances in realtime without any pre-treating steps for the sample. The vehicle with SIFT-MS was used for real-time measurement of VOC concentration at the site boundaries of pollution sources. It is possible to directly analyze VOCs concentration generated at the outlets by capturing air from the pollution sources with a drone. VOCs concentrations of nine spots from Banwol National Industrial Complex were measured by a vehicle equipped with SIFT-MS and were compared with the background concentration measured inside the Metropolitan Air Quality Management Office. In three out of the nine spots, the concentration of toluene, xylene, hydrogen sulfide, and methyl ethyl ketone was shown to be much higher than the background concentration. The VOCs concentrations obtained using drones for high-concentration suspected areas showed similar tendencies as those measured using the vehicle with SIFTMS at the site boundary. We showed that if both the drone and real-time air quality monitoring equipment are used to measure VOCs concentration, it is possible to identify the pollutant sources at the industrial complex quickly and efficiently check sites with high concentrations of VOCs.

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 most effective microbial strains with the best ability to reduce complex odor were isolated from earthworm and activated sludge and identified using a 16S rDNA method. The isolated strains, Staphylococcus cohnii HYC-3 and S. carnosus JYC-4, were inoculated into the odor vials that had been left for 48 hours in water containing sesame dregs, and after 3 days, the ammonia was reduced to 5 ppm and 3 ppm from the initial 25 ppm, respectively. Complex odor was reduced to 2.5 and 2.2, respectively, while the control group maintained an odor of 5. The isolates were grown in the order of 30°C > 40°C > 20°C > 10°C. For HYC-3 and JYC-4, the optimum pH was 7 and 10, respectively, and the strains grew well at neutral pH ranges. To monitor the amount of microorganisms remaining in the environment by using the strain as a preparation for odor reduction, a probe for real-time PCR was designed. Through the quantitative and sensitivity tests on the developed strains, it was found that they showed excellent sensitivity.