[Source emission characteristics of malodorous volatile organic carbonyls from a municipal sewage treatment plant].

A 4-day field observation was conducted at Liede sewage treatment plant in Guangzhou, using PFPH/GC/MS method to analyse the composition and the concentration of volatile carbonyl compounds, and investigate the source emission characteristics of the pollutants. The results were as follows: 18 carbonyl species were detected, which including 15 malodorous volatile carbonyls with a concentration range from 0.39 microg x m(-3) to 19.92 microg x m(-3) at six processing units. Mean value of the total malodorous volatile carbonyls was (68.66 +/- 10.05) microg x m(-3). Normalization data process was used to research the source emission profile for malodorous volatile carbonyls, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, 2-butanone, butyraldehyde and hexaldehyde were found to be molecular markers of the source emission with their percentage of total carbonyls up to 78.91%. Hexaldehyde was the most abundant carbonyl species with an average concentration of 11.71 microg x m(-3). Using a calculation model of area source emission, it estimated that the total annual emissions of the municipal sewage treatment plant was 2 302.33 kg(-1), and the contribution ratio of each processing unit was in an order of biochemical reaction basin, concentration basin, grade A aeration, ascending pump room, grit basin, dewatering house. The malodorous emission of sewage treatment plant is affected by many complex factors, so there's some uncertainty on the estimate.

[Source emission characteristics and impact factors of volatile halogenated organic compounds from wastewater treatment plant].

A low enrichment method of using Tenax as absorbent and liquid nitrogen as refrigerant has been established to sample the volatile halogenated organic compounds in Guangzhou Liede municipal wastewater treatment plant as well as its ambient air. The composition and concentration of target halogenated hydrocarbons were analyzed by combined thermal desorption/GC-MS to explore its sources profile and impact factors. The result showed that 19 halogenated organic compounds were detected, including 11 halogenated alkanets, 3 halogenated alkenes, 3 halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and 2 haloesters, with their total concentrations ranged from 34.91 microg x m(-3) to 127.74 microg x m(-3) and mean concentrations ranged from n.d. to 33.39 microg x m(-3). Main pollutants of the studied plant were CH2Cl2, CHCl3, CFC-12, C2H4Cl2, CFC-11, C2HCl3 and C2Cl4, they came from the wastewater by volatilization. Among the six processing units, the dehydration room showed the highest level of halogenated organic compounds, followed by pumping station, while the sludge thickener was the lowest. The emissions from pumping station, aeration tank and biochemical pool were significantly affected by temperature and humidity of environment.

[Quantification assessment of the relationship between chemical and olfactory concentrations for malodorous volatile organic compounds].

Using self-made cold-traps and gas bags, the odor samples were collected from 6 sewage treatment workshops of a typical municipal sewage treatment plant in Guangzhou City. The chemical composition and olfactory concentrations of these samples were respectively analyzed by thermal-desorption/GC-MS and triangle odor bag method. Finally, a mathematical equation was built for assessing the relationship between principal organic odorants and the olfactory concentrations. The result showing that: (1) More than 70 volatile organic compounds were detected in municipal sewage treatment plant, among which were 30 malodorous volatile organic compounds (MVOCs), ranging from 0.37 to 1 872.24 microg x m(-3) and appearing in sludge dewatering, thickening and aeration tank with the highest concentrations. (2) Principle component analysis was used to group the target MVOCs into 5 categories: benzenes, halohydrocarbons, aldehydes, hydrocarbons and S, N-containing organic compounds. (3) Multiple lineal regression analysis was used to build a quantified relationship between chemical and olfactory concentrations of MVOCs. The result indicated that 25% of the odor problem of sewage treatment unit was due to MVOCs. The predicted values were fitting well with measured values. The sensitivity of mathematical equation for measuring odor concentration was higher than that of human olfactory system.