The “Biogas Roadmap” of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge proposes a minimum biogas production objective of 10,41 TWh per year in 2030. The deployment of biogas generated through the anaerobic digestion of waste from source organic represents a boost to the development of the circular economy in Spain. However, the production of biogas can give rise to environmental pollution due to odors, which has become one of the most relevant environmental problems in cities and urban environments.
With more than 30 years of experience in this field, and being the first accredited laboratory in Spain to carry out studies based on the UNE-EN 13725 standard, SUEZ has successfully carried out more than 450 odor diagnosis and control projects in Spain, Portugal, France, Algeria, Czech Republic, China, Peru and Chile.
Olfactometry is used by SUEZ to evaluate odor emissions from existing and future facilities. This standardized methodology is used to assess odor nuisance and find solutions (UNE-EN 13725) widely accepted in Europe and other countries in the rest of the world, which allows the environmental impact produced to be quantified and provides criteria to develop the possible plan of corrective measures.
Knowing in depth the odor generation of a biogas plant is essential to guarantee a sustainable and safe environment. At SUEZ they are committed to excellence in this field and have extensive experience in carrying out predictive studies of odor dispersion, necessary in the processing of biogas production plant projects, and whose objectives are:
- Estimation of odor emissions from future biogas plant installations.
- Estimation of odor immissions in the surroundings of future facilities using mathematical models of atmospheric dispersion.
- Interpretation based on the existing odor immission levels in the air quality guides.
Studies based on emission measurements using the methodology described in the UNE-EN 13725 standard (Determination of odor concentration by dynamic olfactometry) have the following main advantages:
- Determine which sources are actually causing most of the odors produced by a facility. In this way, parts of the installation that are not working correctly can be discovered and action can be taken on the process to reduce and limit emissions. On the other hand, when considering investments to eliminate odors, it will be known which sources must be acted upon and which are less relevant and, therefore, have a lower priority.
- Knowing the magnitude of the emissions produced by one or more sources will allow you to choose and appropriately size the odor treatment system that should be applied in each situation.
- The efficiency of the different odor elimination systems existing in the facility can be measured objectively.
- With the help of mathematical dispersion models, it is possible to predict what the future immission scenarios will be when a certain measure is implemented to eliminate odors in biogas and biomethane plants. In this way it will be possible to know how far the emission level of each source must be reduced to achieve the set objective.
Given the need to guarantee objectivity in the results of any olfactometric study, SUEZ is based on the premise of using standardized analytical methods. The use of these standards ensures that analytical procedures meet certain minimum requirements in parameters such as sensitivity, repeatability, reproducibility, etc. Likewise, the use of these technical standards ensures that the procedures have been agreed upon by the scientific community, and therefore have wide dissemination and use. So SUEZ is accredited by ENAC (National Accreditation Entity) for carrying out sample collection and analysis using dynamic olfactometry according to the requirements set by the EN 13.725 «Air Quality» standard. Determination of odor concentration by dynamic olfactometry" that CEN (European Committee for Standardization) published in 2.003, and whose Spanish version, UNE-EN 13.725, was published in 2004 by AENOR (Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification), both standards subsequently revised in 2022.
The SUEZ team will be at the 4th Renewable Gas Show, stand nº271, to inform about these important aspects to take into account when considering a biogas installation.
Further information: antonio.amo@suez.com
