Odour emission from industrial and commercial establishment invariably attracts adverse public attention. Regulatory agencies have closed down industries because of odour complaints. Odour also affects worker health and labour relations. Until the development of gas biofilters, odour control system was expensive and inefficient.
Rubber reclaiming refers to the process of reclaiming rubber from scrap tyres. Tyres are ground to small particles and subjected to devulcanizing. After devulcanizing the rubber is soft and can be compounded with additives and rolled into sheets that can be used as a raw material in the manufacture of new tyres. Chemical reclaiming uses devulcanizing chemicals and high temperature and pressure (20-22 bar) to soften ground rubber. These chemicals are aromatic organic compounds. The reaction is carried out in autoclave as batches. At the end of the reaction, the devulcanized mash is discharged after autoclave pressure is released.
The autoclave pressure release contains a large amount of volatile organic compounds. Many of these are sulphur containing organic compounds formed from devulcanizing of rubber, which is essentially breaking of sulphur cross-linkages in vulcanized rubber. If condensed, the condensates from autoclave steam release, is extremely foul smelling and hence is an effluent discharge issue. The soft rubber mash discharged from autoclave is hot and is a source of odourous vapours. Another source is the handling and working of rubber during maceration and sheeting.
Figure 1: The orange upward arrow shows odour emission sources
Hot autoclave release emissions are treated separately by direct incineration in the factory boiler. Scientifically calculated and automatically controlled release of vapour ensures complete combustion while boiler firebox temperatures are unaffected. The incineration system not only destroys odour but also eliminates effluent. The remaining low strength, low temperature vapour is better treated in the Biofiltration unit.
Biofiltration uses micro-organisms to remove undesirable components from industrial waste gases. Waste gases are forced through filter material on which micro-organisms are immobilised. After absorption in the filter material, micro-organisms break down the polluting components and transform them into harmless products such as carbon dioxide, mineral salts or acids and water. Biological waste air treatment processes offer a cost-effective solution for the treatment of large volumetric airstreams containing low levels of pollutants. They have found use in a broad spectrum of industries. Biofiltration is distinguished by its low operating costs, low maintenance requirements and low energy requirements. Properly designed biofilter achieve very high odorant removal efficiency (>99%).
Biofilters can be designed as low-cost open systems with single stage media. Where land is not available, biofilters can be provided as multi-storey units. Biofilters can also be located on roof of factory buildings to have maximum space savings.
EES undertakes careful study of customer requirements before design of the odour control system. The most important step in the design of a successful odour control system is that characterisation and estimation of quantity of odour emissions. In most cases, direct measurement of quantity of emissions is impossible. It requires considerable skill and creativity to make reasonable estimates required for design.
Pre-treatment requirements and media composition have to be selected to suit the emission characteristics. Hot gases have to be cooled and humidified before biofiltration. Elixir Enviro Systems Pvt Ltd (www.elixirenviro.in) designs the ventilation system required to collect odour from open spaces like dumps or sumps and closed spaces such as sheds. Gas biofilter are best suited for emissions with low VOC concentration. For high strength emissions such as pressure reactor release, EES designs incineration system for odour control.
EES is biofilter media is advanced proprietary development originally based on license from the patented biofilter media of CSIR-NIIST. The media marketed by EES is known for its high-performance, low-cost BIOFILTER MEDIA. It features
Guaranteed performance and life
very low pressure drop,
Plug and play start-up to maximum activity,
high water holding capacity
green eco-friendly material
This biofilter media has the ability to accommodate highly varying “puff” loads which is a common occurrence from may industrial sources.
Bacteria are at the heart of a successful biofilter and a key factor is the growth of suitable microbial population. EES (www.elixirenviro) brings experience of Odour Control system in different fields and internationally recognized competence in biological treatment systems to guarantee biofilter performance.
Things You Need to Know about Odour Control Systems TodayAir- without it, life is over in seconds. Air is the most consumed gift of nature by humans. Yet we pay too little attention to managing air pollution.
Odour is a serious inconvenience for humans and brings about great irritation and physical stress to our day to day lives. The air we breathe in, the water we drink should be odourless and tasteless. The presence of foul odour indicates something toxic. The right to clean odour free air is part of the fundamental right to life. Industries, commercial establishments, municipalities and housing establishments have a legal responsibility to ensure that their activities don’t cause odour pollution and have proper Odour control systems.
The common sources of odour are:
Since odour affects us and our fellow beings physically and mentally especially when exposed to it frequently or persistently, it is a growing concern at a humanitarian level, Hence the need of Odour control systems. This is why few skilled individuals devoted their time to find a solution for this inconvenience. Companies like Elixir Enviro Systems provide industries with technology to be environment friendly.
1. To eliminate harmful health risks
Odour control systems are set up for welfare of the employees and those who live in the neighbourhood. Odour can cause vomiting, nausea, headache and mental fatigue which will interfere with their day to day lives. We are liable to keep the impacts of our operations from harming others.
2. Control Air Pollution
It is popular knowledge that industries are the biggest contributors to air pollution. Children are cursing industries for taking away the quality of our environment and leaving them with no good air to breathe. Odour control systems remove odour due to harmful gases from the air. It’s high time industries act with responsibility.
3. Free of Complaints
Irritation caused due to odour can lead the nearby residents to file a complaint against your industries to the concerned officials. If the complaint is valid, you would be facing legal cases. Save yourself from such chaos by investing in an efficient odour control system.
Odour emitted from industries contains complexes chemical compositions. The first and foremost thing about odour control is the effective capture of the odour from the factory. To capture the odour, a proper exhaust ventilation system has to be designed. Once the odour is collected, the next thing is the selection and careful implementation of the suitable odour control system. A wide range of odour abatement technologies is available including Biofilters, Bioscrubbers, physical adsorption, Chemical scrubbing and catalytic/thermal oxidation systems. Spraying “deodarants” are wrong practice and do not control or eliminate the odour from the exhaust gas. The choice of the treatment to be used depends on many factors including required odour removal efficiencies, flow rate & inlet odour concentration, type of chemical species in the odour, variability in flow and load, space requirements and infrastructure (power, drainage, etc). Biofilter is considered to be an ecofriendly and cost-effective technology to eliminate the volatile organic compounds (VOCs), H2S, Ammonia and other odorous gases from the exhaust gas stream.
Be a part of the movement to shift our industrial activities from non-ecological to environment friendly. Elixir Enviro Systems provide you with scientifically engineered technology-based Odour control systems to beat odour related issues.