Development of a method for the monitoring of odor-causing compounds in atmospheres surrounding wastewater treatment plants

Abstract

This study describes the development of an analytical method based on active collection in a multisorbent Tenax TA/Carbograph 1TD tube, followed by thermal desorption and GC-MS for the determination of 16 volatile organic compounds in air samples. The analyzed compounds include ozone precursors and odor-causing compounds belonging to different chemical families (sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds, aldehydes, and terpenes). Two types of sorbents were tested and desorption conditions (temperature, time, and sampling, and desorption flow) were evaluated. External calibration was carried out using the multisorbent bed. Method detection limits in the range 0.2-2.0 μg m(-3) for 1 L samples were obtained. The method was applied for determining the target compounds in air samples from two different wastewater treatment plants. Most compounds were detected and toluene, limonene, and nonanal were found in particularly high concentrations with maximum values of 438, 233, and 382 μg m(-3), respectively.

Generation of sub-ppb level vapor phase mixtures of biogenic volatile organic compounds from liquid phase standards and stepwise characterization of their volatilization properties by thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

“…The detailed procedure for preparing these STs is reported and presented in our recent study [18]. Note that the reliability of multiple-bed STs for the collection of volatiles has also been validated in a number of recent studies [5,9,[20][21][22][23].…”

Drying Characteristics and Odor Concentration in Tail Gas in Vacuum Drying of Municipal Sewage Sludge

“…This is because in the pilot continuous sludge drying device, continuous addition of wet sludge and discharge of dried sludge will lead to the peak drying rate of sludge, and the maximum flow of condenser in the device cannot meet the flow required for the condensing of the water vapor generated by sludge drying. Meanwhile, according to some previous studies, volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) are the main cause of odor concentration in the tail gas of sludge drying [9][10][11][12] . Therefore, when collecting tail gas, a large number of sulphur compounds that should be condensed with the water vapor generated by sludge drying will be collected at the same time.…”

Exploration of the problems and solutions related to reference introduction prior to calibration of thermal desorber–gas chromatography

“…Thermal desorption–GC (TD–GC) was originally developed as a collection, pre‐concentration, and analysis system for the offline monitoring of airborne volatile organic components (VOCs). A sampling TD tube filled with sorbent material is used to collect the VOCs from the area to be monitored by diffusion or active sampling . Subsequently, the loaded TD tubes are brought in the TD–GC and subjected to a thermal desorption cycle under a flow of inert gas.…”