This paper aims to review the odor removal performance and operating parameters of pilot and full-scale chemical scrubbers, bioscrubbers, biofilters, and biotrickling filters for odor control in wastewater treatment plants. Based on the performance of full-scale facilities installed in wastewater treatment plants, empty-bed residence times were the shortest for bioscrubbers (7.5±2.5s), followed by chemical scrubbers (20±8.1s), biotrickling filters (22.2±26.2s), and biofilters (48±30s). The removal efficiencies of complex odors by biofilters, biotrickling filters, bioscrubbers, and chemical scrubbers were 97.7±1.9%, 87.7±15.6%, 89.0±9.0%, and 70.0%, respectively. The investment cost was the lowest for biofilters, followed by biotrickling filters, bioscrubbers, and chemical scrubbers. In addition, the operating costs of these deodorization technologies were in the following order: biofilters < bioscrubbers and biotrickling filters < chemical scrubbers. However, most studies on odor control for wastewater treatment processes have been conducted on a laboratory scale with model odors (single odorous compound or mixtures of 2-3 odorous compounds). Therefore, field research to develop deodorization technologies for wastewater treatment plants should be more actively conducted to accumulate data for the design and operation of full-scale deodorizing systems.

The odors emitted from wastewater treatment plants are not only a health and hygiene problem, but can also lead to complaints from residents and have wider social ramifications such as bringing about falling property values in the surrounding area. In this paper, based on the data measured at domestic and overseas wastewater treatment facilities, the concentrations of complex odors and odorous compounds were compared for each treatment/process: primary treatment, secondary treatment, and sludge treatment processes. Odor compounds that contribute greatly to complex odors were summarized for each process. In addition, the characteristics of odor wheels for each wastewater treatment process, which provide both chemical and olfactory information regarding odors, were reviewed. For domestic wastewater treatment facilities, the complex odor concentrations (unit, dilution factor) of the primary and secondary treatment processes were 4.5-100,000 (median, 32.1) and 2.5-30,000 (median, 10.7), respectively. However, the complex odor concentrations in the sludge treatment process were 3.0-100,000 (median, 118.7), which was more than three times higher than that in the wastewater treatment process. In the wastewater treatment process, those odor compounds making the greatest contributions to complex odors were sulfur-containing compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide DMS. In order to properly manage odors from wastewater treatment plants and minimize their impact, it is important to understand the status of odor emissions. Therefore, the compositions and concentrations of odors from wastewater treatment processes and odor wheel information, which are reviewed in this paper, are used to evaluate the potential risk of odor from wastewater treatment facilities in order to derive strategies to minimize odor emissions. Moreover, the information can be usefully used to introduce the best available technology to reduce odors emitted from wastewater treatment facilities.

Odor emission factors (OEFs) are important parameters in characterizing odor sources, understanding emission patterns, designing abatement facilities, and providing appropriate control methods. In this study, OEFs for complex odor from grit removal chambers in publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants were determined, and the major operating conditions affecting the emission factors were investigated. In the main study site of “S” wastewater treatment plant, the averaged OEFs from the grit chamber were found to be 466.2, 162.6, and 54.7 OU/m2/min in summer, spring, and winter, respectively. OEFs from two other grit chambers in different wastewater plants were independently measured for comparison, and the values were in the same range as the OEF from S-site at a 95% confidence level. Nevertheless, the OEFs could differ depending on the types of wastewater and the sizes of wastewater treatment plants. Using the multi-variable linear regression method, correlations between OEFs and operating conditions, i.e. activities, from grit chambers were statistically analyzed. The analyses showed that operating conditions, including total suspended solids, water temperature, and temperature difference between water and air, were the most significant parameters affecting the OEF. A linear equation using these three parameters was proposed to estimate the OEF, and can be used to predict an OEF for another grit chamber, without odor measurement.

The purpose of this study is to develop a scrubber wastewater cleaning system to improve the efficiency of odor reduction. We evaluated the changes in scrubber wastewater quality and odor reduction efficiencies before and after applying the pilot system. We determined that it was possible to extend the replacement cycle by two times or more considering the turbidity change and organic removal efficiency. Butyraldehyde, a major odor-causing substances in the exhaust gas of the target facility, is soluble in water. As a result, the odor reduction efficiency was improved by removing the butyraldehyde in the scrubber wastewater. Economically, it is possible to save about 12 million won per year. Thus, it is necessary to keep scrubber wastewater clean in order to improve the deodorization efficiency and reduce the cost of disposal.

The object of this study is to investigate the relationship between the air dilution sensory test and the threshold odor number (TON) method for evaluating the odor of domestic wastewater, plating plant wastewater, food plant wastewater and lake water. The dilution factor of raw wastewater evaluated by the air dilution sensory test was in the order of food plant > plating plant > domestic > lake, and that evaluated by the threshold odor number method was in the order of food plant > domestic > plating plant > lake. The same results were obtained when the raw wastewater and lake water were diluted 2 and 5 times with pure water. The relative geometric standard deviation determined from the threshold values of each panel on the air dilution sensory test was much larger than that calculated from results derived from the threshold odor number method. The relative geometric standard deviation obtained from samples with a low dilution factor was greater. There was a very good linear correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.968~1.000) between the air dilution sensory test and the threshold odor number method. But, the reduction in odor intensity (the slopes of regression curves) by dilution was dependent on the types of the odor-emission sources.

This study was carried out to investigate the response characteristics of a hydrogen sulfide electrochemical gassensor for several wastewater odors. At first, it was found that bubbling sampling method was superior toheadspace sampling method in terms of sensor sensitivity. High correlation between odor concentration and sensorresults was shown for two wastewater which were r=0.977 for food-waste recycling wastewater and r=0.997for food industry wastewater. On the other hand, no correlation (r=0.258) was found for plating wastewater,because hydrogen sulfide was not the main odorant for that.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to apply a cost effective ultrasonic odor reduction method that generated micro-bubbles using ejector to the Southeast Asian wastewater market. Research design, data, and methodology - A leather maker located in Ansan-city, Gyunggi-do, South Korea was sampled from the collection tank to select experimental materials. Experimental setup consisted of circulating water tank-air ejector-ultrasonic device, and circulating wastewater. Sample analysis was performed by CODcr, T-N, T-P, and turbidity by the National Environmental Science Institute. Results - Experimental results show that it is most effective in removing odors when the frequency range of ultrasonic wave is 60∼80 Khz and the output is 200 W. It showed that the concentration of complex odor dropped from a maximum of 14,422 times to a minimum of 120 times. Also, analysis of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in specific odor substances has shown that they were reduced from 1.5 ppm to 0.4 ppm and from 0.6 ppm to 0.1 ppm, respectively. Conclusions - It is possible to shorten more than 12 hours in the treatment of micro-organisms. It can be seen that the processing time of odor after ultrasonic treatment in the pre-treatment facility is reduced by 25% when compared to the resultant micro-organisms after the chemical treatment, that is, the time of the bio-treatment of micro-organisms. Based on the results, it was confirmed that the pre-treatment method using the ultrasonic and the air ejector device of the experiment shows the effect of reducing the water pollutants and odor more effectively in a relatively short time than the conventional advanced oxidation method.