Description
Most industries in the food sector generate strong odors in their processes and wastewater treatments, which has a strong environmental impact on surrounding areas. The main objective of this project is to develop odor treatment techniques which provide more efficient and viable solutions than conventional treatments. Once the project is completed, new deodorization technologies will be available, which will offer removal of more than 80% of odors in water and industrial treatments. Odor control and treatment are environmental concerns that need to be addressed in industrial facilities, especially when located close to residential areas. Sadyt will expand its knowledge on the characterization of odors in wastewater treatment plants and its partner KHAI will determine the right technology for the treatment of its emissions and then install it in its factories
Summary of project results
There is a clear technological limitation to reduce, in a very efficient manner, the odor generated by industrial water treatment plants. Sometimes, the problems produced by odors may determine the place where factories can locate. In this case, KH Alacant Inova SL (KHAI) needed to develop solutions to reduce all the impacts resulting from its activities. Meanwhile, SADYT, as an expert in water treatments, needed to develop and control alternatives to be able to improve their services and minimize some of their impacts as odor emitters. At the same time, future legislation in the sector is expected to be more restrictive so it is necessary to develop alternative solutions that can reduce to a minimum the concentration of odor components. As a result of this project, SADYT and KHAI have acquired more knowledge about how to minimize odor thanks to the development of different technologies with a high level of efficiency and new methods to control the main process points where odor is generated. Thorugh the project, the participants have compared four different technologies to control odor: Biofilter, Bioscrubber, Iron nanoparticles, and Photoreactor. The conclusion is that Biofilter is the most robust technology as it allows longer working hours without stopping, and also because its simplicity (it doesn’t require chemical additives and it consumes little power). The main problem identified is the lack of capacity to adapt to fluctuations in concentration of Sulfur (S) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Regarding the implementation of technologies at industrial scale in terms of costs, the use of biofilter and the nanoparticles are the most competitive methods. The environmental impacts generated by the technologies developed also have been taken into account in the analysis. The biofilter and nanoparticles have a lower than the Bioscrubber and photoreactor.
Summary of bilateral results