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2014 | Buch

Biological Odour Treatment

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Showcasing the very latest technologies for neutralising the unpleasant—and sometimes dangerous—odours from industrial and waste management processes, this Springer Brief in Environmental Sciences covers physical, chemical and biological methods. The volume includes modern biotechnological approaches now making it cost-effective to tackle malodorous chemicals at very small concentrations. The book reflects the fact that odour affects us in several ways, which range from compromising our quality of life to causing respiratory and other unpleasant conditions and from depressing property values to severe health problems caused by the toxic stimulants of odours.

Innumerable industrial processes release malodourous and harmful vapours. The human sense of smell can detect some noxious chemicals, such as the sulphurous by-products of paper manufacturing, at concentrations of one part per billion. This e-book shows what has been achieved in combating offensive and harmful odours. While conventional air pollution control technologies can treat a wide variety of pollutants at higher concentrations, the chapters cover the more refined biological methods used to deal with odours and volatile organic compounds in low concentrations. These include bio scrubbers and bio trickling filters. Standing alongside its detailed discussion of the health impacts of total reduced sulphur compounds, and the composition of paper pulp industry emissions, this publication offers comprehensive and in-depth treatment of some of the most potent anti-odour technologies yet devised.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. General Introduction
Abstract
Odour is a serious complaint associated with waste air emissions that creates nuisance. Odour affects human beings in several ways. Strong, offensive smells, if they are frequent and or persistent, interfere with the enjoyment of life. Foul odour may not cause direct damage to health but the toxic stimulants of odour may cause respiratory problems. Very strong odours result in nasal irritation and activation of symptoms in individuals with breathing problems or asthma; they can even prove fatal if people are exposed above a certain limit. Eye irritation has been also reported. Secondary effects may be nausea, fatigue, insomnia and headache and dizziness. Loss of property value near odour-causing industries and odourous environments is partly a result of offensive odour. Its treatment process ranges from physical and chemical to biological means. Conventional air pollution control technologies can treat a wide variety of pollutants at higher concentrations; however, for treating waste air with low pollutant concentrations these approaches become economically prohibitive. Biological methods for the removal of odours and volatile organic compounds from waste gases are cost-effective technologies when low concentrations are to be dealt with. Odour generation and composition, health effects of total reduced sulphur (TRS) compounds and advantages of biological treatment methods for odour removal are discussed in this chapter.
Pratima Bajpai
2. Emissions from Pulping
Abstract
The manufacture of pulp for paper and board employs mechanical and chemical methods. Chemical pulping is used on most papers produced commercially in the world today. The Kraft process is the most dominant chemical pulping process worldwide. The problem of kraft mill odour originating from the sulphide in the white liquor in the initial pulping has long been an environmental and public relations issue for the pulp and paper industry. The kraft mill odour is caused predominantly by malodourous reduced sulphur compounds, or total reduced sulphur compounds namely, methyl mercaptan, dimethylsulphide, dimethyldisulphide and hydrogen sulphide. Reduction of odourous gas emissions in kraft mills will significantly improve the environmental competitiveness of the pulp and paper industry, and will also improve public relations with their respective surrounding communities. When it is more economically feasible, odour reduction, instead of odour elimination, can improve significantly the air quality and the environment of a kraft mill, since it will reduce the radius of the area being impacted by the odour emission. Typical characteristics of the gaseous emissions from kraft pulp mill, neutral sulphite semi-chemical (NSSC) pulping, sulphites and mechanical pulping are presented in this chapter.
Pratima Bajpai
3. Biological Methods for the Elimination of Odourous Compounds
Abstract
Biological odour treatment systems utilize biochemical processes to break down odourous compounds. Biological methods have been attracting an increasing popularity because of the following reasons: low cost, operational simplicity, and intrinsically “clean technologies” as they reduce or eliminate the need for additional treatment of end products. Biological methods have a broad spectrum of applications and are regarded as the most competitive systems for the deodorization of waste gases characterized by high flow rates and low concentrations of contaminants. Biological waste gas purification technology currently includes bioreactors known as: biofilters, biotrickling filters, and bioscrubbers. A description of each of the three types of bioreactors for biological waste gas purification currently in use is presented in this chapter.
Pratima Bajpai
4. New Reactors
Abstract
New bioreactors—biological plate tower, membrane bioreactor, sparged gas reactor, foamed emulsion biological reactor, suspended-growth reactor, monolith bioreactor, and two-phase partitioning bioreactor—developed for air pollution control are discussed in this chapter. The choice of the most suitable bioreactor depends on the characteristics and the composition of the waste gas and on the economical aspects as well.
Pratima Bajpai
5. Removal of Odours
Abstract
Odour treatment is a significant portion of the marketplace. Biofiltration is capable of biodegrading a wide variety of air contaminants. Current research and application of biofiltration has been focused on the removal of volatile organic compounds and air toxics from the industrial exhausts of chemical and other processes. Biofiltration of hydrogen sulphide has been studied extensively, because it is one of the most frequently produced odourous compounds in industrial processes such as petroleum refining, rendering, wastewater treatment, food processing and paper and pulp manufacturing. Removal of reduced sulphur (RS) compounds (either singly or as part of a mixture), and odourous volatile organic compounds, ammonia and hazardous air pollutants are presented in this chapter.
Pratima Bajpai
6. Future Prospects
Abstract
Biological treatment of odours is becoming more common as the experience with, and confidence in these technologies increases. As the research continues and the technology advances and develops ways to improve removal efficiencies, the capital costs of biological treatment will continue to become more competitive with carbon and chemical scrubbers on a capital cost basis. As the capital cost gap narrows, this will result in biological technologies being selected more often based on life-cycle cost over competing technologies. The continued optimization of biological systems for what they do best and combining with other technologies to address their shortcomings will also serve to promote the proliferation of biological technologies. Research continues on biological systems in the private and public sectors. New medias and concepts are being developed and tested in order to produce higher loading rates to bring costs down and increase removal efficiencies. Biofiltration will play a major role in the treatment of organic and inorganic emissions from a variety of industrial and waste water treatment processes. Biofiltration technology for purification of exhaust gases from pulp and paper industry has a great potential. Very little information directly related to the industry is available, although reasonably good information is available on the biofiltration of organic compounds similar to those found in the exhaust gases of pulp and paper industry.
Pratima Bajpai
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Biological Odour Treatment
verfasst von
Pratima Bajpai
Copyright-Jahr
2014
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-07539-6
Print ISBN
978-3-319-07538-9
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07539-6