Nuisance odor abatement at a large waste management plant in Spain

We are in Spain, in one of the largest municipal solid waste storage, sorting and treatment centers.

The processing steps of this type of waste (MSW) generate an odor impact strongly felt by the population living in the neighboring area also, a nuisance to the manager of the plant himself, who decides to contact us.
He wants to get information about our new plant design and implementation service and our technologies to see if they can solve the problem related to the odorigenic emission of his facility.

After an initial phase of emission analysis, Labiotest was then responsible for designing and installing a custom HPS Evo system with osmogenic barrier technology, a professional fogger that uses a mixture of water and deodorizing products to neutralize the nuisance odor and prevent it from spreading to the surrounding area.

Our technology enabled us to achieve an odor abatement efficiency of 80% approximately.

The success of the intervention is also attributable to the integrated approach implemented by Labiotest in several steps:

• inspection and study of the problem at the production site;
• emission source assessments and olfactometric analysis;
• design and implementation of the odor abatement plant;
• installation of the system and verification of abatement efficiency.

Let us look at each step of this project in detail, starting with what the characteristics of the existing plant were like before our intervention.

The facility covers 890,500 m2 and consists of a plant for:

• mechanical biological treatment;
• selection of light packaging;
• treatment of leachate;
• compost refining.

The plant treats municipal solid waste (MSW) generated by 144 municipalities in Spain (812,000 inhabitants), in addition to containers collected selectively throughout the province (923,000 inhabitants). 
It has 4 treatment lines with a capacity to process 30 t/h.
The lines had been coupled (2+2) so that the plant would work symmetrically and simultaneously with two types of material, thus increasing the stability of the output product and the versatility of the process.

The improvements made over time made it a national benchmark, an excellent example of how process automation and the inclusion of the most advanced treatment technologies are crucial in the efficiency and improvement of waste management.

There remained, however, the problem of bad odors strongly felt by people living in areas adjacent to the waste treatment center.

Our technicians carried out an inspection at the plant, initially making a series of assessments of the main emission sources and then olfactometric analyses, precisely to understand the characteristics of the emissions.

Once all areas and their emissions were analyzed, we identified the one with the highest odorigenic criticality, namely the composting area.

Our experience allowed us to consider the osmogenic barrier as an excellent solution for odor abatement in this plant since it has the advantage of having a high deodorizing performance and ensures that the malodorous molecule cannot be restored. 

The plant consists of several areas:

• arrival and waste pits;
• composting with maturation and fermentation stage;
• landfill and leachate storage.

Together with the client, we decided to act first on the composting area and abate the odor emanating from the areas east and north of the plant and the dust during the heap handling phases.

The dimensions of the two areas to be treated were:

• ripening pits approximately 130x180 meters;
• dumping pits 100x15 meters.

The problem analysis phase allowed us to present the most suitable proposal that could meet the customer's expectations and comply with the requirements.

After careful verification of the areas to be treated and technical feasibility, it was proposed to install:

• 2 HPS Evo plants to be placed in the two areas of the plant to be treated;
• one plant for the composting area with 110 nozzles and 730 meters of closed loop pipe to maintain constant delivery pressure;
• a plant for the waste pits with 25 nozzles and 110 meters of pipe.

Both HPS Evo plants have been equipped with a dosing system with a by-pass valve that can activate the line for dust abatement without the use of the deodorizing product.

In addition, the plant is equipped with a panel for line guarantee in operation, which can dose and spray the deodorizing product only in the area where it is needed.

The optional extras combined with HPS Evo

The following options have been added to the two HPS EVO systems-to achieve higher odor abatement efficiency and superior control of plant operation:

• flow meter that allows remote calculation of water and product consumption;
• anti-ice system that stops the system when temperatures drop below zero;
• water softener for incoming water;
• UV lamps for water sterilization;
• gonioanemometer to activate the system based on wind: it is connected with the weather station to operate the system as needed to reduce consumption.

The systems have an external control panel for:

• ON/OFF signal;
• signal for lack of water, product, anti-ice system operation;
• flowmeter.

The system was installed and started up directly by our trained technicians.

Finally, in the testing phase, olfactometric measurements were conducted that demonstrated abatement efficiencies of approximately 80%.

The installation of the HPS Evo plant in the composting area has:

• ensure that there are no risks to humans and the environment;
• achieve an odor abatement efficiency of around 80%.

In addition to supervising all phases of construction and installation of the plant according to the client's needs, we also ensured low investment and maintenance costs proportionate to the real odor criticality.

The next step planned by the client will be the treatment of the landfill and leachate storage tanks.