Odour assessment: determining the optimum temperature and time for Tedlar sampling bag pre-conditioning

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Odors from new Tedlar bags can interfere with the assessment of emissions from sewer collection systems and wastewater treatment plants.
• Background odor concentrations in new Tedlar bags can reach up to 130 OU(E)/m(3), necessitating effective conditioning protocols.
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and specific chemicals like phenols and acetamide, N,N-dimethyl are present in new bags.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of different conditioning temperatures on cleaning new Tedlar bags.
• To determine the optimal temperature for cleaning Tedlar bags to eliminate detectable odors.
• To minimize the impact of background material emissions on odor sampling and assessment.

Main Methods:

• Experimental studies using temperature-controlled ovens with constant filtered airflow.
• Olfactometry analysis to measure background odor concentrations.
• Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations during the cleaning process.

Main Results:

• Odor and VOC concentrations in Tedlar bags decreased over time during the cleaning process.
• Temperature significantly influences the cleaning efficiency of Tedlar bags.
• Pre-conditioning at specific temperatures effectively reduced concentrations of phenols and acetamide, N,N-dimethyl.

Conclusions:

• Temperature-controlled conditioning is essential for preparing Tedlar bags for accurate odor emission analysis.
• Optimized temperature protocols can reduce background odors and VOCs to undetectable levels.
• Effective cleaning protocols ensure the integrity of sampling for sewer and wastewater treatment plant emissions.