Odor Emission Rate Estimation of Indoor Industrial Sources Using a Modified Inverse Modeling Method

Abstract

Odor emission rates are commonly measured in the laboratory or occasionally estimated with inverse modeling techniques. A modified inverse modeling approach is used to estimate source emission rates inside of a postdigestion centrifuge building of a water reclamation plant. Conventionally, inverse modeling methods divide an indoor environment in zones on the basis of structural design and estimate source emission rates using models that assume homogeneous distribution of agent concentrations within a zone and experimentally determined link functions to simulate airflows among zones. The modified approach segregates zones as a function of agent distribution rather than building design and identifies near and far fields. Near-field agent concentrations do not satisfy the assumption of homogeneous odor concentrations; far-field concentrations satisfy this assumption and are the only ones used to estimate emission rates. The predictive ability of the modified inverse modeling approach was validated with measured emission rate values; the difference between corresponding estimated and measured odor emission rates is not statistically significant. Similarly, the difference between measured and estimated hydrogen sulfide emission rates is also not statistically significant. The modified inverse modeling approach is easy to perform because it uses odor and odorant field measurements instead of complex chamber emission rate measurements.

A methodological approach for assessing indoor occupational risk from odor perception

“…Obviously, the OHI value is less than 1, which indicates that the indoor odor level under control strategy is acceptable at vicinity areas, where the odors are uniform (Li et al 2011).…”

Definition and Application of a Protocol for Electronic Nose Field Performance Testing: Example of Odor Monitoring from a Tire Storage Area

“…Micrometeorological methods: emission rates are measured indirectly through the simultaneous measurements of wind velocities and concentrations across the plume profile downwind of the source [37]; • Chamber methods: emission rates are measured directly by using an enclosure of some sort (typically a wind tunnel or a flux chamber [38]). In this technique, data regarding the concentration of compounds of interest or odor in samples obtained from the device are combined with data regarding the physical dimensions of the device and operating conditions to calculate an emission rate.…”