Parameter sensitivity to concentrations and transport distance of odorous compounds from solid waste facilities

Treatment facilities dealing with municipal solid waste (MSW) are typical pollution sources of urban odor nuisance which threatens public health and environmental safety. Dispersion simulation with specialized models is an important approach for simulating the concentration distribution and estimating the transport distances of the released odorous compounds. Given that the temporal and spatial distribution are affected by many factors with different variations and functions. This study investigated the influence of key parameters on the dispersion of odor compounds on the basis of a numerical atmospheric dispersion model. The sensitivity analysis was applied to quantitatively identify their influence on the concentration distributions and transport distances. The results reveal that source intensity is a sensitive parameter in the whole domain under the specified dispersion conditions, with the sensitivity ratios around 1 to concentrations and of 1.5-2.5 to transport distances. Wind speed possesses higher sensitivity ratios at the upwind direction than the downwind direction. Horizontal diffusion coefficient is sensitive to concentrations only in the area of a typical radius of 500 m from the source. Degradation reaction constant and wet deposition are not sensitive in either concentration distribution or transport distances. The most sensitive parameters present respective importance to the transport distances when different olfactory thresholds of compounds are applied to determine the protection area of odor pollution. This study thus provides important information to the application of dispersion models and the data collection of the most sensitive parameters in odor pollution evaluation and management.