[Quantification assessment of the relationship between chemical and olfactory concentrations for malodorous volatile...

Using self-made cold-traps and gas bags, the odor samples were collected from 6 sewage treatment workshops of a typical municipal sewage treatment plant in Guangzhou City. The chemical composition and olfactory concentrations of these samples were respectively analyzed by thermal-desorption/GC-MS and triangle odor bag method. Finally, a mathematical equation was built for assessing the relationship between principal organic odorants and the olfactory concentrations. The result showing that: (1) More than 70 volatile organic compounds were detected in municipal sewage treatment plant, among which were 30 malodorous volatile organic compounds (MVOCs), ranging from 0.37 to 1 872.24 microg x m(-3) and appearing in sludge dewatering, thickening and aeration tank with the highest concentrations. (2) Principle component analysis was used to group the target MVOCs into 5 categories: benzenes, halohydrocarbons, aldehydes, hydrocarbons and S, N-containing organic compounds. (3) Multiple lineal regression analysis was used to build a quantified relationship between chemical and olfactory concentrations of MVOCs. The result indicated that 25% of the odor problem of sewage treatment unit was due to MVOCs. The predicted values were fitting well with measured values. The sensitivity of mathematical equation for measuring odor concentration was higher than that of human olfactory system.