Chasing Landfill Odors: Part 1

Chasing landfill odors is a never-ending job. Operators are forever promised solutions, but today there is no way to completely prevent or mitigate every trace of odor. Where massive tons of waste accumulate, there will be stink. But in this two-part series, we gain insight to better understand and improve on odor control.

Part 1 focuses on technologies and a partnership between two odor-mitigation companies to combine their offerings for what they believe is a better solution than they could offer apart.

In Part 2 a landfill odor expert discusses odor analytical detection methods; new tools such as fate and transport odor modeling; and what’s the best mitigation approach in which landfill scenario.

Landfill odors are a colossally complex problem, and they are a moving target due to continual changes that make them hard to chase and fix. Changes in weather from day to day, even hour to hour. Changes in working faces as cells rapidly fill and more get built. And changes in surrounding communities that inch closer and closer to these facilities.

New technologies evolve pitched as odor control solutions to operators as they grapple to stay in good graces with their neighbors and regulators and to run cleaner more efficient facilities. These are tough callings as many of them take in more, and sometimes different types of especially stinky wastes.

Byers Scientific is among companies that’s been going after odor issues at solid waste facilities for years. Its flagship product is a vapor-phase odor mitigation system that third-party testing shows neutralizes many compounds commonly generated at solid waste management operations. It’s coupled with a distribution system deployed at the property line that can run (2,600 linear feet).

Most recently Byers teamed up with Envirosuite (EVS) to add a new component; an IoT-based platform for collecting and analyzing weather data, particularly around wind properties (receptors can be impacted when downwind of landfill). The EVS system also monitors and measures emissions in real time. The combination of weather and emissions data informs operators on how to most effectively deliver the vapor, among functions.

Beginning with Byers’ part of the package (clients can opt to add the EVS piece), Josh Rembusch vice president, Byers explains the concept: “Our approach is based on the understanding that true odor mitigation is predicated on that the neutralizing agent must come in contact with odor molecules. Byers’ system [one of several commercialized vapor mitigation offerings] achieves this by taking a liquid plant-based neutralizer, forcing it into a vapor state, and delivering that vapor to the landfill through a ported piping network.”

Getting to the vapor state is key because gas is lighter than liquid and thus more likely to remain airborne, increasing its likelihood of coming in contact with odor molecules. These droplets are microscopic; the tinier the lighter. But their size means it’s necessary to create billons of them to increase surface area, which is as important to boosting probability of contact.

Because it requires no water, unlike the common alternative of misting, the vapor system comes with additional advantages, Rembusch says. The gas does not freeze, even in as cold of temperatures as -20 °F. And it solves an issue encountered with misters— the need to transport tanks to deliver what’s typically several gallons of water a minute.

Byers’ system has three main components: 1) steam-distilled, plant-based oils; 2) high-purity water; and nonionic surfactants to enable the water and oil to mix and work together.

“In vetting and selecting an effective neutralizing agent, we were committed to making sure it’s safe for plants, pets and people,” Rembusch says [looking particularly to ensure no harm to skin or from inhalation].

The technology neutralizes such problematic chemical compounds as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, ethyl mercaptan, and methyl mercaptan. These have presented an ongoing battle for many operators trying to control stench from decomposing organic waste, especially rotting food and or sheetrock or drywall.

Most of the hardest-to-control odors are at the open working face, due to the nature of ambient air, which enables them to travel.

“[Knowing this] we said, let’s go to the primary source. But the working face is constantly moving as operators build cells and add trash.  So, we designed a trailer-mounted mobile system to move with it. We can roll up hoses and move them as the cell grows. We are getting as close as we can to the source to increase the probability of contact and ultimately neutralizing odor,” Rembusch says.

While the system can neutralize many persistent odors, it can’t detect or model them, which is where EVS technology comes in.

The Omnis platform includes an IoT device installed around the facility (called eNose) that measures concentrations of compounds in the air, in real time, informing on conditions at the property line.

The system also includes a “weather station” to be able to collect, analyze, and leverage hyper-localized meteorological data (i.e. honing in on very targeted locations) such as wind direction and wind speed. 

The weather data provides intelligence to determine where odors come from and, if the facility is the source, it pinpoints the exact location.

“Our system does a reverse trajectory where we go back in time looking at weather information to understand what happened in the past [with regard to odors].

And because we know the weather forecast, we can also make future predictions to know if operators will have a problem tomorrow, including at what time,” says Greg Bracci, vice president Americas, Enviorsuite.

With that information operators can determine when to turn on the vapor system or to adjust the concentration of the odor-mitigating agent, turning the system up or down or turning it off altogether to save energy.

The real power, in Bracci’s eyes is that “With access to real-time data you can understand what’s happening at your facility and have confidence you are making the right decision to able to operate your facility efficiently.”

The web-based system includes a portal where the community can report odors, with EVS’s reverse trajectory technology determining if the landfill was the source and with the capability of reporting findings to both the community and operator.

The system is configurable to be as community facing or as transparent as operators chose. The idea, says Bracci, is to provide an option so that should operations continue to grow, engagement with the community can evolve as needed.

Byers’ incentive to add on these components was to have a tool to optimize vapor delivery. But as important, says Rembusch, was to give solid waste facility operators a way to be accountable to, and transparent with, the community when odor complaints come in. So they can respond quickly when they are responsible for offending emissions. And so they have science-based data to show when they aren’t. 

Note: Chasing landfill odors is a never-ending job. Operators are forever promised solutions, but today there is no way to completely prevent or mitigate every trace of odor. Where massive tons of waste accumulate, there will be stink. But in this two-part series, we gain insight to better understand and improve on odor control. Part 1 focuses on technologies and a partnership between two odor-mitigation companies to combine their offerings for what they believe is a better solution than they could offer apart. In Part 2 a landfill odor expert discusses odor analytical detection methods; new tools such as fate and transport odor modeling; and what’s the best mitigation approach in which landfill scenario; among areas.