Estimation of odor emission rate from landfill areas using the sniffing team method

Abstract

The monitoring of the odor annoyance generated by a landfill area is difficult, since it is a multi-area-sources problem, with a discontinuous odor emission. This paper proposes an adaptation of the method of sniffing team campaigns to the particular case of fresh waste odors. The method is based on the field determination of odor perception points, followed by data processing with a bi-Gaussian-type model, adapted to handle the odors. In a first step, field observers delineate the region in which odor impact is experienced and then the emission rate is manipulated in a dispersion model until the predicted size of the impact zone matches that observed in the field. In a second step the adjusted emission rate is entered into the model to calculate the percentiles corresponding to the average annoyance zone. The originality of the proposed method is the introduction of all points and of all recorded meteorological data into the model. The paper discusses the method limitations and the errors induced on the results, i.e. the odor emission rate and the percentile lines (or iso-concentration lines) which are used to describe the odor concentrations on a map of the surroundings of the plant.The proposed method proves to be reliable for diffuse sources, such as landfill areas. The obtained results are coherent with other results found in the literature with other techniques.

Development and validating procedure of a formula to calculate a minimum separation distance from piggeries and poultry facilities to sensitive receptors

“…The method is inspired by the "sniffing-squad" technique, largely described and discussed in a previous paper (Nicolas et al, 2006b). It consists in trying to delineate the areal extent of odour plume downwind of the livestock buildings.…”

De l’odeur à l’impact sur le territoire

“…Cette technique est nouvelle en France mais est utilisée depuis plusieurs années en Belgique, en Allemagne et aux Pays-Bas. Elle se base sur la ligne guide allemande VDI 3940 part 2 (Measurement of odour impact by field inspection), sur le code de bonne pratique édité par le VITO (Bilsen, 2008) et sur les travaux du professeur Nicolas (Nicolas et al, 2006. (Chaignaud et al, 2014) Odour concentration and acceptability levels of samples.…”

Identification of odour sources in an industrial park from resident diaries statistics

“…Van Broeck and Van Langenhove (2000) compared the responses of a telephone survey to the odour concentration determined using sniffing measurement in combination with short-term and long-term dispersion model calculations. We tested the resident diary method in the neighbourhood of a landfill area near Brussels (Nicolas et al, 2006). One observer in particular, living around 500 m away from the tipping area, regularly noted his perception.…”