This study assessed the measurement technique of odorous substances using a GC/MOS system with MOS sensor at the detector and the method detection limits were determined for odorous substances such as hydrogen sulfide, acetaldehyde, toluene, m,pxylene, and o-xylene. The portable GC/MOS system was able to separate and measure about 16 out of 22 odorous substances including sulfur compounds, aldehydes, and VOCs. The peak values for hydrogen sulfide, acetaldehyde, toluene, m,p-xylene, and o-xylene showed a nonlinear relationship with concentration and a correlation coefficient of 0.95 or higher was confirmed. The method detection limits for hydrogen sulfide, acetaldehyde, toluene, m.pxylene, and o-xylene using the portable GC/MOS system were determined to be 0.005, 0.023, 0.016, 0.004, and 0.051 ppm, respectively. It is expected that the system can measure odor samples with concentrations of least 50 ppb without additional pretreatment or concentration processes.
In this study, real-time monitoring of air quality using a real-time mobile monitoring system was conducted to identify the emission characteristics and current status of air pollutants and odorous substances that are mainly generated in domestic dyeing industrial areas and to trace the pollutant sources. The concentration of toluene in the industrial area was detected up to 926.4 ppb, which was 3 to 4 times higher than that of other industrial areas. The concentration of methylethylketone was 124.7 ppb and the concentration of dichloromethane was 129.5 ppb. Acrolein concentration was highest at E point at 521.6 ppb, methanol concentration was highest at D point at 208.8 ppb, and acetone concentration was highest at M and N points at 549.3 ppb. The most frequently detected concentration of pollutants in the air quality monitoring results in the industrial area was, in descending order, toluene > methanol > acrolein > dichloromethane > acetone, which was similar to the chemical emissions used in the industrial area by the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register data. The concentration of odorous substances measured in real time was compared with the concentration of minimum detection, and the concentration of hydrogen sulfide was about 10 times higher than the concentration of minimum detection at A point, which was judged to be the main odorous cause of A point. In the future, if the real-time mobile measurement system is constructed to automatically connect wind direction/wind speed, PRTR (Pollutant Release and Transfer Register) data and SEMS (Stack Emission Management System) data, etc., it was judged that more accurate monitoring could be performed.
The purpose of this study is to create a new odor analysis technology that combines the separation technology of GC and the measurement of MOS sensors. The detector of the GC system is replaced with the MOS sensor to analyze various odor compounds. Carrier gas also used air in the normal atmosphere through a micro pump. Therefore, it is possible to develop a portable odor analysis device since no additional cylinder is needed. Retention times for H2S, C7H8, and C2H4O analyzed by the combined GC/MOS system were identified as 1.28 minutes, 3.88 minutes and 1.77 minutes, respectively. Measurement reproducibility of odorous RT was very good at less than 1.2 %RSD. Also, the magnitude of the peak as a result of changes in the concentration of each odor showed a linear proportional relationship. Thus, a new method could be proposed to analyze various odorous substances with the combined GC/MOS system.
Two sewage treatment facilities were selected to identify odor emission characteristics, focusing on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfur compounds. The complex odor, 5 kinds of sulfur compounds and 23 kinds of VOCs were analyzed from gas and sludge storages. Hydrogen sulfide was detected in the highest concentration and had the highest odor quotient among the odorous compounds monitored in this study, demonstrating that the contribution of hydrogen sulfide to the complex odor reached up to 90%. For VOCs, the overall contribution to the complex odor was not critical but VOCs can sufficiently trigger an odorous sensation because the sum of the odor quotient reached up to 2.89.