Most gaseous emissions from wastewater treatment systems, which comprise several gases besides ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, including various VOC’s, are highly malodorous (although some, like methane, are odorless). Not only are these foul smelling gases offensive to workers and neighboring communities, but they are harmful to human health. This is why they are the subject of environmental regulations. This presentation will focus primarily on two of the most frequently encountered culprits, which as mentioned before are ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
There are essentially three approaches currently being used in an attempt to curb the generation of the foul-smelling and toxic gases we have mentioned. The first is the use of non-biological solutions, such as chemical agents which attempt to provoke chemical changes in the wastewater in order to absorb or oxidize the gases being produced, or filters such as beds of activated carbon or wood chips, in some instances, with the same objective. This solution tends to be of limited usefulness and efficiency and is frequently quite expensive and complicated to maintain.
A second common approach is the application of active biocatalysts. Strains of mutant bacterial cultures are added in the expectation that the organics will be digested more efficiently and thus a reduction in gaseous emissions will be experienced. Synthetic enzymes are sometimes used with the same reasoning.
The third approach is the application of non-active biocatalysts as OrTec, which simply prevent the generation of the offending gases in the first place. For this and other reasons, as we will discuss further on, this is by far the most effective, economical and therefore preferred approach.
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