For years it has been questioned how to run an objective measurement and quantification of odours in ambient air. The odour sampling process has particular relevance. We have come a long way to agree upon and establish methodological standards such as the EN 13725:2004 for analysis and the 3880:2011 VDI for sampling odours.
H. Vergara1 y V. Zorich M.1
1 Ecometrika, Av. Américo Vespucio 2296, Conchalí, Santiago, Chile, www.ecometrika.com, hvergara@ecometrika.cl, vzorich@ecometrika.cl.
Keywords: Odour, VDI 3880:2011, sampling, measurement, diffuses sources, point sources
Abstract
For years it has been questioned how to run an objective measurement and quantification of odours in ambient air. The odour sampling process has particular relevance. We have come a long way to agree upon and establish methodological standards such as EN 13725:2004 and 3880:2011 VDI. The latter deals with criteria for the representative sampling of odour emission and odour nuisances. Even though there are guidelines for carrying out sampling processes and achieve representative samples, there are situations where some criteria are not included in the methodologies. Those situations force us to "improvise" meeting the requirements of the technical background yet reaching a careful balance between methodological and application support. Non-continuous emissions due to batch processes, special operating conditions and a host of different situations can actually arise during field work. This is where the experience of those who must implement and analyze the data is crucial. The sampling methodologies existing today have made extremely significant progress both to train the engineers in charge, and to achieve our goal: representativeness. The challenge is that, while the guide comprises the main keys to standardize sampling odours, the professional judgment of the specialist in odours is equally important to decide handling situations as batch processes, process variability, etc.
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