Around 70 people with a common interest on odour management, gathered for the Emissions and Odour Control Conference in Leeds on 1 December 2016. This conference organized by the Aqua Enviro was sponsored by Silsoe Odours Ltd.
Two senior Environment Agency odour experts started with presentations summarising the essentials needed to comply with EA Permitting. During 2 years from 2013 to 2015 of 33000 odour complaints were received about 20000 were from waste related sources. Landfill at 7000, MRF at 5200, composting at 4200 and anaerobic digestion 2800.
Sam Hantoosh, Head office Technical Advisor of the UK Environment Agency, spoke about Appropriate Measures and Best Available Techniques (BATs) and emphasised that there are only two proven methods of reducing complaints, first a good setback distance and second using all the best management practices such as inventory control, good housekeeping, process control, the correct design and maintenance of containment and abatement. “Snake Oil” still does not work.
Daniel Galloway of Leeming Biogas reported his experiences with Odour Management Plans (OMPs).
The three essential points were;
- Start the OMP from scratch.
- Write it exactly how H4 & EA BAT for AD tells you to.
- Make sure you do what you say you’re going to do, man, process or machine
The Odournet’s partner Envirosuite introduced their proactive system for rapid analysis and response monitoring that combines the data from hydrogen sulphide monitors, complaints and forecast dispersion modelling to trigger management action or inaction to minimise the odour impacts.
Two case studies from United Utilities illustrated the need for odour emission surveys to determine site specific emission rates from sewage works processes in preference to “surrogate data” which was shown to either over or under predict source emissions. Limed cake emissions were 3 to 7 times the emissions of the reference site. Dispersion modelling using NWP data was a better predictor than met data observation.
Mr Sneath is director of Silsoe Odours Ltd., a specialist laboratory for determination of odour concentration by dynamic olfactometry. The laboratory was the first odour laboratory accredited by UKAS to ISO17025 as a testing laboratory for the measurement of odour concentration following BSEN13725.
Mr Sneath has over 30 years of experience in monitoring farm animal emissions and treatment of farm wastes for odour reduction and reduction of pollution potential and he was a UK member of the EU CEN Working Group TC 264 WG2 “Odours” that developed the European CEN odour measurement standard, BSEN13725:2003. He is still a member of the reformed working group CEN Working Group TC 264 WG2 “Odours” to revise this European standard.
From 1991-September 2005 he was Head of the Silsoe Research Institute Odour Laboratory and Senior Research Scientist in the Environment group.
Mr Sneath is author or co-author of many scientific papers published in peer review journals or in international conference proceedings and reports.
If you find this article interesting, you might also be interested in these articles.
- Best Practice in Odour Control Management, 6th of February 2014, Nottingham, UK.
- The H4 Odour Management Guidance has been recently revised.
- When Theory does not Match Common Sense. A typical Case Study of an Intensive Pig Farm in the UK
- Activated Sludge Recycling and Oxidized Ammonium Recycling: Innovative Strategies for Odour Prevention in WWTPs
- Emissions and Odour Control in Leeds, UK the 1st December 2016
