Autonomous Odour Alert System
Micone, P.G.1, and Mesbah, B.2, 1Odotech, 2Airfobep, France
(free)
Installation of a network of electronic nose system combined to an atmospheric dispersion
software at the ORTEC waste treatment site made it possible to validate the capability of such
a system to provide an objective measurement, in real time, of the odour nuisances perceived
by the neighbours of a waste treatment facility. The ORTEC site in southern France is
composed of a sludge composting area and a landfill site, both generating odours.
Three electronic noses were positioned on site in order to measure continuously the
emissions of the three major odour sources: the windrows of the composting area, the fresh
sludge storage area and the municipal solid waste of the landfill site.
The odour concentrations measured by the electronic noses were tested and validated using
olfactometry. The odour concentrations calculated by the atmospheric dispersion software
were compared with the responses of a committee of residents, whose purpose was to record
the malodorous events in the neighbourhood of the ORTEC site. The comparison of these
two groups of data proved that the odour monitoring system was able to accurately evaluate
the level of nuisances felt by the neighbours. When malodorous events were recorded by the
members of the committee, the electronic nose system had predicted significant levels of
odour.
Correlations could then be developed between the observations of the residents and the
predictions of the odour monitoring system. The mean level of the neighbourhood exposure to
odour-generating observations by the members of the committee was evaluated at 4.5 ou/m3
(with all procedures according to European standard EN 13725).
KEY WORDS
Electronic nose, odour, olfactometry, composting, landfill, MSW
