Wastewater Odor Control

Benefits of odor control

Veolia's ProSweet odor control products used together with a comprehensive system audit and engineered application and operational recommendations will provide one or more of the following benefits:

• Control of hydrogen sulfides and nuisance odors - Compared with traditional organic scavengers such as triazine, Veolia's ProSweet H₂S scavenger products work effectively at a wide pH range and are faster reacting.

• Safer work environment - With the proper application of ProSweet, no toxic build-up of H₂S in the air can occur, unlike when masking agents or odor neutralizers alone are used. Health-related and toxic effects of H₂S are virtually eliminated, not covered up.

• Cost-effective results - ProSweet is an effective alternative to sludge producing inorganic programs and amine-type organic scavengers.

• Eliminate negative environmental impact - ProSweet treatment produces stable, soluble reaction products with no adverse effect on wastewater treatment operations. Effluent resulting from treatment can be readily disposed of without incurring additional surcharges. 

• Protect equipment integrity - By removing odors that are corrosive in nature, equipment is protected from added corrosion and corrosion-related issues. 

• Eliminate public complaints - Public complaints about odor can negatively affect an industry's image in a community. Eliminating the odors eliminates complaints, which is an effective public relations policy with far-reaching benefits. 

What characterizes an odor?

Odor is the perception experienced when a chemical substance or substances in the air is received by the human sensory system. The chemical substances that stimulate the sense of smell are known as odorants. In many industrial processes and wastewater treatment systems, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, amines, and volatile organics are some of the emitted odorous substances that can stimulate your olfactory sense. The most prevalent, commonly recognized and requires immediate attention is hydrogen sulfide (H₂S).

How does odor affect industrial and wastewater facilities?

Odors emitted from industrial and wastewater facilities can impact operations in many ways:

• Public complaints can negatively affect the image and its ability to carry out an effective public relations policy with the surrounding community.
• Safety concerns for its toxic and health effects can arise from the employees working in areas where odors can overcome them.
• Productivity can be impacted in areas where objectionable odors exist.
• Equipment integrity can be threatened by the presence of odors due to their corrosive nature.
• Plant may face litigation or fines arising from non-compliance and safety violations.

What are some of the hazards of H₂S?

H₂S is an acutely toxic gas. H₂S is heavier than air, is colorless and has a characteristic rotten egg smell at low concentrations. Even low concentrations of this gas can cause serious health hazards. In recent years, industry and public concerns have heightened awareness of health and safety issues associated with H₂S in industrial and wastewater treatment plants. As a result, the exposure limits of 10 ppm H₂S when working around an H₂S environment is mandated to ensure public and workers’ health and safety.

What are the sources of H₂S?

The direct introduction of hydrogen sulfide and other reduced sulfur compounds such as mercaptans generated from inorganic and organic reactions in petrochemical plants, paper mills, steel mills, and other industrial processes into process water and wastewater streams. In wastewater applications, a primary contributor to hydrogen sulfide is the biochemical reduction of inorganic sulfur compounds to sulfide by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) under anaerobic or low dissolved oxygen conditions. The rate by which H₂S is generated depends upon the concentration of organics, sulfate, and dissolved oxygen in the water and environmental factors such as pH and temperature.