Odor measurement

Abstract

It generally is recognized that for effective odor control measures to be implemented the problem must fi rst be quantifi ed. Odor measurement data can be used to: Predict odor impact in the vicinity of an operation for odor impact assessment purposes. Provide information on the strength and intensity of odors. Identify the causes of an odor problem and quantify the scale of odor emission from a particular source. Measure/evaluate the performance of an odor control technology implemented by a company. However, odors are temporal and spatially dimensioned and can be considered to be one of the most diffi cult challenges for scientists to investigate. A person's response to an odor is highly subjective: different people fi nd different odors offensive and at different concentrations given that physiologically odor recognition is associated with the emotional center of brain. Furthermore, some of the odorous compounds can be detected by the human nose in very low concentrations (e.g., hydrogen sulfi de) while others cannot be detected even at very high concentrations (e.g., methane). This is further complicated by the fact that some combinations of compounds may be more odorous than the sum of the individual gases. Determining the impact area of odorous gases also is very diffi cult. As wind direction and speed change, the odor impact area and intensity change. Depending on specifi c conditions, odorous gases can travel several meters or several kilometers. Gas transmission and impact area also depend on the specific gas. For these reasons, there is no universally accepted method for the quantification of odors, and odor measurement often has been regarded as an art as opposed to a science (Gostelow et al., 2001). © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.